Chris Cooper says he liked slapping Rob a lot and compares him to Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire

From The Cinema Source

Co-starring with Cooper is Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, who plays the love interest of his character Neil’s daughter Ally, played by Emilie de Ravin. He had this to say regarding his experience working with Pattinson.

“I liked slapping that kid around…a lot,” Chris jokes, “No, it was good. It was enjoyable. It was real good working with him. We were very careful about that. I know people are making a real big deal about that scene. We were very careful and safety conscious and all that business and it worked out really well.”

However, while Robert Pattinson became a virtual overnight sensation with his role in the Twilight films, Chris says that it gave him no preconceived notions about his co-star’s level of acting commitment.

“Not for me,” Cooper states, “That’s up to him how he comes across. I’m going in with an open mind and to work with another colleague. I don’t mean this as harsh as this sounds, but in one respect, I know what he’s up against. At his age back in my career, I couldn’t handle what he’s up against. But at the same time, that’s his business. We have a job to do and that shouldn’t influence the work.”

Pattinson is not the first major young Hollywood star that Cooper has acted alongside. He has worked with actor Jake Gyllenhaal on both October Sky and Jarhead and has worked with Tobey Maguire. The actor compares his previous experiences to that of his current one with Pattinson.

“It’s just about the same,” Chris claims, “He’s learning the ropes, but the good thing, like a lot of those other guys, like Jake and Tobey, Robert, I think, is making good choice and I think he’ll probably expand more so than just being an actor. I just have this feeling. But if he can handle this phenomenal fan base, if he can get that under his belt and deal with it and continue to make the good choices, I think that he’ll do really well.”

We wondered if Chris has learned just as much from his young co-stars as they have from him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he answers, “Probably not what you expect, but that some of the young actors have to realize that time is money in filmmaking. The budgets are getting tighter and tighter and there’s a theory among some actors that, ‘Well, I don’t want to know my lines completely, because when I’m on camera, I want to struggle for the words so it makes me look more real.’ Well, that doesn’t always work and the actor is so unfamiliar with the lines that he kills a good take and he kills other people’s work.”

"That’s the whole idea of coming prepared to do your day’s work and I’ve had to instill or stress that on a couple of young actors because it’s real irritating when that happens,” Cooper adds, “They’re big boys and I’m not going to soft-pedal when they’re interfering in my career. That’s a time when I’ll confront and I can’t be soft about it. Oddly enough, I’d say, down the road, they appreciate it. Because if they don’t and they continue in this business, somebody else is going to confront them or they are going to get fired.”

Full interview at the Source

From Projections

Mainly, that Pattinson is no prima donna.

“Robert is learning the ropes,” said Cooper, whose squinty gaze and no-nonsense manner could certainly intimidate any young actor. “He’s relatively new in the business. What he’s doing is making some good choices, I think. I think he wants to be a serious actor, and he’s a lovely guy. So realizing what he has to deal with, all the demands of the `Twilight’ popularity and the distractions, I think he’s handling it amazingly well.”

With paparazzi and groupies descending on the shooting locations in New York every day, Cooper admitted to being occasionally aggravated by the distractions that came with Pattinson’s presence.

“But Robert was a consummate professional,” Cooper said. “He always did his homework and came to the set prepared.”

One of Cooper’s pet peeves is with young actors coming to the set looking like they’ve just rolled out of bed without having done their homework, without having all their lines memorized.

“I let them know I’m not pleased. I confront them with it,” he said bluntly, while declining to name names. “There’s this theory that I’m hearing time and time again with young actors that, `well, if I don’t learn my lines to the word it looks good on camera if I’m thinking about those words, trying to pull them.’

“Well, nine times out of ten that’ll kill a scene because the director’s saying, `what are you doing?’” Cooper said. “Get in the scene, get involved in the scene, get involved with the other actor you’re working with. And you just can’t do that if you don’t know your lines. It’s just happened to me too many times.

“I don’t care if they resent it (when he confronts them),” he said. “They’re working with me. Time is money in a production – we never have enough rehearsal time when we’re shooting a film – actors should come prepared. To his credit, Robert always did.”


Full interview at the Source

Via RememberMe-Film