Robert Pattinson Was 'Literally' Jobless When Christopher Nolan's Tenet And The Batman Came Up

Robert Pattinson in Tenet

It's widely known that it's hard being an actor. You face plenty of rejection, no guarantee for longevity, and ultimately work from job to job. As such, even the most famous actors have faced lulls in their career, where there wasn't a project to film/publicize. This includes Robert Pattinson, who has been an A-lister since appearing in the Twilight franchise. What's more, the actor revealed that he was actually unemployed before landing gigs in The Batman and Christopher Nolan's mysterious drama Tenet.

Robert Pattinson became a household name during his tenure in the Twilight movies, before working on a variety of independent projects like The Lighthouse. Moviegoers would assume that Pattinson fields all sorts of movie offers, it turns out that he was facing an open schedule. Luckily Christopher Nolan changed things. Oh, and there's his little upcoming Batman gig too. As the 33 year-old actor recently put it,

I literally started this year with no job. I remember my agent saying, ‘You’re not really on anybody’s list. The movies are well reviewed, but they aren’t big hits.’ And then a week later I got another call out of the blue: ‘Do you want to be in a Chris Nolan movie?’ I was like: ‘Wait – how did that happen?'

And that's showbiz, kid. Things are never certain in the world of TV and film production. What's more, any gaps in your schedule could be filled over the course of a phone call. Thanks, Christopher Nolan.

Robert Pattinson's comments to BBC are sure to be surprising for his many fans. Pattinson became a sensation from his roles in Twilight and Harry Potter, and no doubt got plenty of movie offer after ending his four movie run as Edward Cullen. But Pattinson actually stepped away from blockbusters, working on a variety of well-received indie projects. Even if they don't exactly break the box office.

While this type of work was no doubt fulfilling for Robert Pattinson and helped him become a more acclaimed actor, he was worried when there were no movies on the schedule for 2019. That quickly changed, as he's set to appear in Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated movie Tenet before debuting as the Dark Knight in The Batman for DC. He also had a role in Netflix's movie The King opposite Timothée Chalamet.

Robert Pattinson is going from indies back into the world of big blockbusters with both Tenet and The Batman. The latter movie puts particular pressure on his shoulders, as he's taking the mantle from Ben Affleck. Luckily, Matt Reeves assembled a killer cast to join Pattinson, including the likes of Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, and Colin Farrell.

Tenet will arrive in theaters on July 17. And one year later The Batman will hit on June 25, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.