Hollywood’s pressure to look beautiful and fit has done more harm than good to many celebrities, and Robert Pattinson is no stranger to this arduous cycle. In 2020, The Batman actor was named the hottest man in the industry, a title bestowed to only a few and coveted by many.
The Twilight star has been vocal about his aversion to roles that require him to bulk up or maintain a certain weight. In fact, he reportedly rejected working with a trainer for his preparation for the role of Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Pattinson claimed that doing so only makes him part of the problem.
Robert Pattinson Reveals He Was Pressured By Hollywood’s Male Beauty Standards
In an interview with Evening Standard, the Harry Potter star revealed he was pressured to look good in front of the camera. He noted that men face the same problem in a certain way, a dilemma that’s being filtered down to younger boys:
“Yeah, it’s crazy, and it’s very, very easy to fall into that pattern as well, even if you’re just watching your calorie intake, it’s extraordinarily addictive — and you don’t quite realise how insidious it is until it’s too late.”
Pattinson admitted never struggling with body image, but he only tried several techniques to lose weight:
“I have basically tried every fad you can think of, everything except consistency. I once ate nothing but potatoes for two weeks, as a detox. Just boiled potatoes and Himalayan pink salt. Apparently, it’s a cleanse… you definitely lose weight. And I tried to do keto once.”
The 37-year-old actor confesses how “embarrassing” it is to get asked all the time about his workout routine whenever he appears in interviews:
“[It’s] quite embarrassing when you get into a pattern of answering questions about your workout because there’ll always be a guy who’s in better shape than you.”
Hollywood’s male beauty standards have evolved throughout the decades, yet it seems today’s benchmark is a far cry from the ones that truly define what timeless and classic beauty looks like.
Robert Pattinson Talks About His Joke On Not Working Out For Batman Role
As for the joke Robert Pattinson made regarding not bulking up for The Batman, he clarified via MovieMaker that he was “in a lower gear of working out” during the lockdown:
“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. 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.”
Pattinson shared that no one in the seventies got ripped just to look good on screen, not even the heartthrob James Dean. The Remember Me actor claimed that “working out all the time” only creates a bigger hole in the grand picture of the problem.
The Batman is available on HBO.
Sources: Evening Standard, MovieMaker
