From Exploding Clowns to Handheld Pasta: Robert Pattinson's Funniest Lies and Other Nonsense in Interviews

The 'Twilight' alum admits that he would sometimes go into "a fugue state" during early career interviews

Since the days of Twilight, Robert Pattinson has proven his resistance to biting his tongue.

Whether it's his honest opinion of the vampire love story or straight up lies about the fate of a circus performer, there is no shortage of commentary from the actor that has made fans wonder if they can believe their ears.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Pattinson explained that he used to become bored while sitting for interviews early on his career which might have led to some of his more eyebrow-raising anecdotes.

"The only thing people would ever ask me about was being famous," he said. "You go into, like, a fugue state."

From his hair washing frequency to culinary inventions, read on to hear some of Pattinson's most nonsensical musings.

Exploding Clown

While promoting Water for Elephants back in 2011, Pattinson recounted a fabricated story about seeing a clown die on a past trip to the circus.

"[The clown's] little car exploded — the joke car exploded on him. Yeah, seriously," Pattinson told Matt Lauer while appearing on the Today show. "My parents had to, like— everyone ran out. It was terrifying.... The only time I've ever been to a circus."

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Pattinson said he recently watched back the interview and was surprised with what he saw.

"There was absolutely no hesitation at all [in my voice],” he said about the fib. “I’m like, ‘What on earth? Are you possessed?’”

Future Restauranteur?

In a quarantine-era interview with GQ, Pattinson explained a business idea he said he had concocted based on this thought: what if "pasta really had the same kind of fast-food credentials as burgers and pizzas? I was trying to figure out how to capitalize in this area of the market, and I was trying to think: How do you make a pasta which you can hold in your hand?,” he said.

He said he designed a protype of this handheld pasta and even set up a meeting with restauranteur Lele Massimini about his "business plan."

A few years later in another chat with the magazine, he doubled down explaining, "I was fully, actually trying to make that pasta. Like I was literally in talks with frozen-food factories, and hoped that that article would be the proof of concept."

To Gym or Not to Gym

Also in the 2020 interview for GQ he said he wasn't really working out for his role as Batman.

"I think if you're working out all the time, you're part of the problem," he said referring to other actors. "You set a precedent. No one was doing this in the '70s. Even James Dean — he wasn't exactly ripped."

He later clarified in an interview with MovieMaker that it was a joke.

“That really came back to haunt me," he told the outlet. "I just always think it’s really embarrassing to talk about how you’re working out."

“You’re playing Batman. You have to work out," he added.

Dirty Hair, Who Cares?

He also used the chat with MovieMaker to reference another talked-about comment he made years ago.

“It’s the same thing as saying in an interview when I was like 21 that I didn’t wash my hair,” he said. “It just sticks for 15 years.”

More than 10 years ago, on the tail end of Twilight mania, when asked how long it took to get his hair "hair perfectly coiffed," he told The Chicago Tribune: "I have so much residue crap in my hair from years and years and years of not washing it and not having any sense of personal hygiene whatsoever." 

Unexpected Dinner Date

During a sit down with David Letterman back in 2009, Pattinson shared that while filming a movie in Spain, he asked a fan who had been waiting outside of his apartment for days if she wanted to join him for dinner.

“I was so chronically bored that one day, she’d been out there for about three weeks, and I said, ‘Hey, do you just want to go to dinner or something? I mean, no one else wants to hang out with me.’”

He explained that she took him to her parents restaurant where he "complained about everything in my life" ... before she passed him the bill.

Royal Classmate

On a visit to The Graham Norton Show, Pattinson shared that he used to tell people in L.A. that he had attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with Prince William.

He said because he was English, no one doubted his tale.

Edward is 'a Weirdo'

Pattinson has also been known to share his brutally honest opinions about all things Twilight and in one scenario called his character Edward "a weirdo."

“With virtually anyone, the nice guys always seem to come last. You always get weirdos like Edward who seem to attract women for some reason," he toldOK! magazine in the U.K. per MTV.

“If Edward wasn’t a fictional character and you met him in reality he is like one of those guys who would probably be an axe murderer or something," he added.