Pattinson has a Good Time changing image

Joshua Safdie, Robert Pattinson and Ben Safdie in Cannes Photo: Richard Mowe

Robert Pattinson: 'I was... trying to disappear, trying to be a ghost in the crowd' Photo: Richard Mowe

The transformation of Robert Pattinson’s image from Twilight icon to an actor with a more serious intent continues apace courtesy of the Safdie brothers (Ben and Josh) and their Cannes Competition title Good Time.

He plays a grungy New York lowlife involved in petty crime with a brother who needs fraternal guidance.

Pattinson told a media gathering at the Festival today (May 25) that he was rather nervous about his fans finding out about the guerrilla style shoot on the streets of Manhattan and Queens. “That would have destroyed the illusion completely,” he said.

Experimenting with various looks including the addition of pock marks to his skin, he discovered that he could walk around incognito. “Not one person took out a cellphone to take a picture,” he said, pleased as punch.

“There was even a sequence on an underground train where he had a film crew and still nobody reacted.”

Robert Pattinson, who plays Connie in Good Time Photo: Richard Mowe

Although most of the cast and crew were from New York, Pattinson managed to blend in to the ensemble. “What I was doing as a person was feeding into the character, trying to disappear, trying to be a ghost in the crowd. The character was a combination of the energies of a lot of people,” he added. “The script went through a lot of incarnations over the months. I was living around the corner from Josh in New York so we would see each other a lot before the script finally was locked down.”

Pattinson continues to ring the changes by taking the lead role in Claire Denis’ new English-language sci-fi production High Life, written with British writer Zadie Smith, in which he plays an astronaut. Denis’ latest film Let The Sunshine In, with Gérard Depardieu and Juliette Binoche, opened the 2017 Directors’ Fortnight section.