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Robert Pattinson on playing Batman: 'Wait, am I actually doing this?'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 10/1/21

Robert Pattison was asked a simple yet impossible question on the red carpet at the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: Has it sunk in that he's portraying the titular superhero in The Batman?

"I mean, it's a strange feeling," the 35-year-old actor told ET Canada. "I have moments when I was shooting when you just catch a glimpse of yourself in a reflection, and you'd be like, 'Wait, am I actually doing this? This is crazy!' But it's been really fun, and it's really exciting so far."

Pattinson was first linked to the role in May 2019 by this exclusive Variety report, and his casting was officially announced two weeks later—replacing Ben Affleck, who had departed the project that January.

"It’s kind of insane," the Twilight star told Esquire later that year. "I was so far away from ever thinking it was a realistic prospect. I literally do not understand how I've got it, at all."

The Batman boasts Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes) as director and additionally stars Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin and Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.

"It's hard," Pattison added to ET Canada. "I mean, it's a combination of the suit does a lot of the work for you, but then when you need to do some work, you have to really fight it. But it's a very special feeling to put it on."

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