Robert Pattinson hid his Southern accent from The Devil All the Time director till day one of shooting

'He was just adamant about figuring it out on his own'
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Megan C. Hills18 September 2020

Robert Pattinson is virtually unrecognisable from his Twilight days in his new Netflix film The Devil All The Time, playing the role of a priest sexually attracted to young girls in the psychological thriller. Set in the American midwest following World War II, Pattinson’s high-pitched Southern drawl is central to his eerie performance as Preston Teagardin - however he hid the accent from director Antonio Campos until day one of filming.

Although Pattinson was offered help developing his Southern accent, Campos explained he was “impossible to get dialect coaching.”

Speaking to Insider, he said, “He just didn’t want to do it. He was just adamant about figuring it out on his own. He would be like, ‘I’m gonna do this thing, and that thing, with a little bit of this.'”

Robert Pattinson as Teagardin in The Devil All the Time
Netflix

Pattinson’s other co-stars, who include Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Bill Skarsgard and more, worked closely with a dialect coach and would send Campos recordings of their progress. In contrast, Campos only heard Pattinson’s accent and his “character in person” on his very first day of filming with Elizabeth Scanlen.

While it may have been a massive gamble, Campos explained that he wasn’t worried. He continued, “There was no way in my mind that he wasn’t going to come on set with something bad. I might not have dug it, but it wasn’t going to be bad.”

Getty Images

“I’d rather have someone come with something weird that’s a choice than something that isn’t thought out. So I knew he would come with something interesting,” he said.

Campos and Pattinson were friends prior to the film and once the script was ready, Campos shared the project with Pattinson - asking him who he was interested in playing. Pattinson immediately was drawn to Teagardin and Campos recalled the actor said he “would be fun to play.”

Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in The Batman
Warner Bros.

Besides his role in Campos' film, Pattinson is currently playing Bruce Wayne in an upcoming Batman reboot alongside Zoe Kravitz. Filming on the project ground to a halt however as Pattinson tested positive for coronavirus, but it has since resumed filming according to a Warner Bros. spokesperson yesterday.

The Devil All the Time is currently streaming on Netflix.