Robert Pattinson Had To Sneak Off The 'Tenet' Set (And Lie To Christopher Nolan) To Audition For 'The Batman'

Robert Pattinson's The Batman audition story has a twist that even Christopher Nolan couldn't have dreamed up. Which is funny, because it involves the Tenet and Dark Knight trilogy director himself.

It's awkward for anyone to discretely go to a job interview while you're doing fine at your current job. But Pattinson turned that awkward experience up to 11 with his The Batman audition story, which involved Tenet, Christopher Nolan, and a very bad lie.

In a recent Irish Times interview, Pattinson recalled his audition process for The Batman which, in classic Pattinson fashion, was as chaotic as possible. The actor said that he was excited when he had secured an audition slot for the Matt Reeves-helmed Batman reboot at Warner Bros., but there was one major problem: the audition was set to take place while he was filming Tenet. A movie directed by Nolan, whose Dark Knight trilogy famously brought the Caped Crusader into the 21st century.

So what did Pattinson do? Not explain the situation to Nolan, who might have been a little peeved but understanding that his Tenet star was auditioning for a franchise he had parted ways with. No, Pattinson came up with a half-baked excuse that made him learn the hard way – you don't hide a Batman audition from Nolan:

"It's funny because Chris is so secretive about everything to do with his movies. And then I had to be really secretive about Batman stuff. So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test — I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said 'It's a family emergency,' he said: 'You're doing the Batman audition, aren't you?'"

I would say Pattinson's a better actor than this and should've cooked up a better excuse than "family emergency," but then I remember that time he blew up his own microwave during a Zoom interview and it all makes sense. But it seems like Pattinson got the best of both worlds — starring in Nolan's Tenet while donning the cape and cowl for Reeves' highly anticipated The Batman. And it turns out his intense Batman workout regime helped him during the filming for Tenet too, especially when he had to (literally) keep up with costar John David Washington, a high-school track star and former professional football player.

"When I'm running on screen I'm generally paired with John David who is an ex-NFL player so it was the most unfair thing in the world," Pattinson said. "The maximum workout I do most of the time is a casual stroll. John David can run all day long. It was good that I ended up being pretty fit. But definitely, at the beginning, there were days I just could not walk afterwards."

Tenet is scheduled to open in international markets before it hits U.S. theaters on September 3, 2020. Production on The Batman has been indefinitely suspended for the time being, but Warner Bros. currently has the film slated to open on October 1, 2021.