Robert Pattinson: Joking About Not Working Out for ‘The Batman’ Really ‘Came Back to Haunt Me’

Anticipation for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” is so high that fervor erupted on social media in May 2020 after Robert Pattinson told GQ magazine that he wasn’t working out to play the Caped Crusader. GQ reported at the time that Pattinson was ignoring the trainer Warner Bros. hired for him, with Pattinson telling the publication, “I think if you’re working out all the time, you’re part of the problem. You set a precedent. No one was doing this in the ’70s. Even James Dean — he wasn’t exactly ripped.”

As is often the case with Pattinson, the actor made a joke with dry humor only for it to get picked up across the internet and social media as fact. Pattinson set the record straight this week in an interview with MovieMaker that he did work out plenty in order to play Reeves’ iteration of Batman.

More from Variety

• Bong Joon Ho Sets Next Movie at Warner Bros. With Robert Pattinson in Talks to Star

• 'The Batman' Lands PG-13 Rating Despite Gritty, Violent Tone

• WarnerMedia CEO Monitoring 'The Batman' Release but 'We Feel Good About the Date Right Now'

“That really came back to haunt me,” Pattinson said about the workout joke. “I just always think it’s really embarrassing to talk about how you’re working out. I think it’s like an English thing. Unless you are in the most unbelievable shape, where people are just genuinely curious, going, ‘How have you achieved, like, physical perfection?’ or whatever.”

Pattinson clarified, “You’re playing Batman. You have to work out. I think I was doing the interview when I was in lockdown, as well, in England…I was in a lower gear of working out.”

Pattinson compared the outrage over his “The Batman” workout joke to another bit of interview humor that has since followed him around as fact: “It’s the same thing as saying in an interview when I was like 21 that I didn’t wash my hair. It just sticks for 15 years.”

“The Batman” is currently scheduled to open in theaters nationwide March 4. While some moviegoers have wondered if the release might be delayed because of the omicron surge, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar confirmed earlier this month that no such move is in the cards right now.

Best of Variety

• 2022 Oscars Predictions: The Collective - 'Belfast' and 'The Power of the Dog' Still Leading

• What's Coming to Disney Plus in January 2022

• Everything Coming to Netflix in January 2022

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.