Robert Pattinson says he was 'possessed' when he told bizarre lie in old interview: "A little gremlin..."
Last year, in December, Robert Pattinson opened up about his thoughts when he gave a false answer during a television interview years ago. The 'Twilight' star is known for his witty and unpredictable responses during interviews. However, one moment from 2011 stands out as more bizarre than the rest.
While promoting his upcoming film, 'Mickey 17', which is set to release later this year, Pattinson admitted that a story he once told was completely made up. As per The New York Times, he detailed that, at the time, he was doing press for 'Water for Elephants', a movie set in a circus. During an interview on TODAY, host Matt Lauer asked him if he had ever thought about running away to join the circus as a child. Pattinson’s unexpected response caught everyone off guard.
He said, "No, the first time I went to the circus, somebody died. One of the clowns died," before laughing and adding, "His little car exploded, the joke car exploded on him." Lauer wanted to clarify if the story was true, to which Pattinson replied, "Seriously. Yeah. My parents had to—everybody ran out. It was terrifying. It was the only time I’ve ever been to the circus." Looking back, Pattinson reflected on how confidently he told the story, saying, "There was absolutely no hesitation at all... I’m like, 'What on earth? Are you possessed?'"
Explaining why he made up such a bizarre tale, he admitted, "The only thing people would ever ask me was about being famous. You go into, like, a fugue state." Pattinson claimed that he invented wild stories as a way to deflect questions about his fame and personal life. He explained that the clown story happened simply because he had 'nothing interesting to say' about a circus.
A YouTube video from the German premiere of 'Water for Elephants', filmed a few days after his TODAY interview, had Pattinson confessing he invented the entire clown story. He said, "I actually made the whole thing up. Now it's coming back to haunt me. I said it on some show, it was really early in the morning and it was the day after the New York premiere and someone asked me what my experience at the circus was, and I was like, 'Oh God, I have nothing interesting to say,'" People magazine reported. In a 2018 interview with Interview magazine, Pattinson shared that he enjoys the thrill of giving unexpected answers. He said, "I definitely get a certain high from" interviews. He shared, "There’s a little gremlin inside of me that thinks, 'Just say something shocking. You’re only here for a few minutes, say something terrible.' There’s a kind of perverse glee I get from that. But I’ve given my publicist a number of heart attacks."