A Horror Movie Terrified Robert Pattinson Enough To Sleep With Two Knives

Robert Pattinson is discovering that growing older doesn’t necessarily mean becoming more fearless. In a candid and humorous conversation with director Bong Joon Ho for GQ, the 39-year-old actor confessed that his appetite for the macabre has shifted significantly since his younger years.

While he previously enjoyed exploring really dark stuff and viewing it through a lens of artistic detachment, he admitted that those days are behind him. The actor explained that he has become too sensitive to handle the intensity of horror cinema in his adult life.

He noted the irony of this development, as many people assume that aging provides a thicker skin against fictional scares. Instead, Pattinson finds himself more vulnerable to the genre than ever before, joking that he simply can’t watch horror movies anymore.

Bong Joon Ho, who directed Pattinson in the upcoming sci-fi epic Mickey 17, suggested that becoming a father might be the root of this newfound sensitivity. While Pattinson agreed that parenthood likely added to it, he clarified that the shift actually began before he and partner Suki Waterhouse welcomed their daughter in early 2024.

The two creatives shared a laugh over the idea that life’s milestones can unexpectedly soften an actor’s edge. To illustrate his point, Pattinson recalled a particularly paranoid night triggered by a horror film he watched before meeting with a specific director.

He became so convinced that an intruder was lurking outside his home that he armed himself with two kitchen knives while sitting on his sofa. The situation reached a peak of absurdity when he eventually fell asleep with the weapons tucked near his face, only to be discovered by a bewildered Suki Waterhouse.

The actor’s anxieties aren’t just limited to the supernatural or home invasions; he also admitted to a deep-seated fear of dance sequences. During the filming of his upcoming project Die, My Love, Pattinson found himself intimidated by the effortless grace of his co-star Jennifer Lawrence and director Lynne Ramsay.

He recalled sweating so much on the day of the shoot, even threatening a mental breakdown unless the scene was strictly choreographed or removed entirely. Despite his request for structure, his colleagues encouraged him to just relax and move to the music.

Pattinson joked that they essentially told him to stop being a freak, highlighting the contrast between his internal panic and their casual approach to the scene. This vulnerability is a recurring theme for the actor, who has built a career on playing complex, often brooding characters while maintaining a self-deprecating public persona.

As of this year, Robert Pattinson is entering one of the most prolific periods of his career. His highly anticipated collaboration with Bong Joon Ho, Mickey 17, premiered in early 2025 to critical acclaim, showcasing his ability to play multiple “expendable” clones in a dystopian future.

The film’s success has set a high bar for his next major release, The Drama, a romantic thriller co-starring Zendaya that is expected to hit theaters in April. Later this year, fans will see him in Christopher Nolan’s epic fantasy The Odyssey, which is scheduled for a July release.

He is also set to return to the world of DC as Bruce Wayne in The Batman Part II, with filming reportedly beginning in the spring of this year for an October 2027 release date. Between his busy filming schedule and his life as a new father, Pattinson remains one of Hollywood’s most versatile and sought-after leading men.

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