The only Robert Pat�tin�son project most peo�ple know from his pre-�Twilight� days is his small role in �Harry Pot�ter and the Gob�let of Fire� as Cedric Dig�gory, but as his pop�u�lar�ity has grown, more of his ear�lier projects are get�ting wide release. The lat�est of those is the short film �The Sum�mer House,� which was filmed for a week back in the sum�mer of 2006, but is only hit�ting film fes�ti�vals and iTunes this year. You can watch the trailer here.
First-time direc�tor Daisy Gills said she actu�ally cast Rob because she was rec�om�mended him by Camp�bell Mitchell, who had worked on props for another of his early projects, �The Haunted Airman.�
�He said, this guy is amaz�ing, and he�s really nice, and I think he�d be really up for work�ing on a short film,� Gills told MTV News. �I saw a pic�ture of him and I thought, he�s fantastic.�
Up until that point, Rob�s costar Talu�lah Riley was best known for her work in Joe Wright�s �Pride & Prej�u�dice,� and hadn�t yet starred in her big hit, �Pirate Radio� (known as �The Boat That Rocked� in the UK). Gills hired a cast direc�tor to find her an actress to play the short�s main char�ac�ter, Jane, and thought Talu�lah was the per�fect fit.
�Talu�lah was amaz�ing. The thing that I found most amaz�ing about her was her ver�sa�til�ity. You could give her a small amount of direc�tion, and she would deliver a com�pletely dif�fer�ent but equally won�der�ful per�for�mance. I was like, wow,� said Gills.
But it was the chem�istry between the two that really helped the film work. At 13 min�utes in length, �The Sum�mer House� fol�lows Jane as she flees to France to stay with her aunt after her boyfriend Richard (Rob) dumps her for another girl. How�ever, he fol�lows her to the sum�mer house to try to win her back and, on the night of the moon land�ing, tries to make his move. The result of his efforts helps Jane real�ize that � in Gills� words � love isn�t black and white.
It was nec�es�sary to Gills to have the film set on the night of the moon land�ing because she felt every�one remem�bers where they were the night man landed on the moon, but the night was impor�tant for Jane because she real�ized that love was dif�fer�ent and more com�pli�cated than she had always imag�ined. �I think you needed [some�thing as momen�tous as] the moon land�ing to kind of help the slight�ness of the story become stronger,� she said.
Gills felt the char�ac�ter of Richard was a strug�gle for Rob, because he had to play some�one so dif�fer�ent from him�self. �He�s quite a gen�tle per�son. He�s a really nice per�son. And he has to play quite a not very nice char�ac�ter, and I think he strug�gled with that,� Gills said. �He wasn�t play�ing a role that he was par�tic�u�larly com�fort�able with, but he still man�ages to have a real pres�ence: brood�ing, slightly men�ac�ing. You�re never quite sure whether he wants her because he wants to have sex with her or because he loves her. And I think he deliv�ers that brilliantly.�
After watch�ing the short, we have to agree with her on Rob�s per�for�mance, and �Twi�light� fans will see a lit�tle bit of what would become Edward Cullen in Rob�s por�trayal of Richard. But, beyond the great act�ing, the set and cos�tume design were our favorite parts of the film. The short is based on a short story of the same name, and Gills said they were able to film for free in the sum�mer house that inspired the story.
The dresses are vin�tage 1960s as well because Gills bor�rowed them from her mother, though the gor�geous green dress Talu�lah wears at the end was a cre�ation of their cos�tume designer. The pearls she wears at the end of the film were bor�rowed by the French actress, Mar�i�anne Borgo, who plays her aunt in the film, just like Jane would have bor�rowed them from her aunt in the film.
�The Sum�mer House� had its pre�miere at the Toronto Film Fes�ti�val ear�lier this year, and is going to be offered for $1.99 on iTunes start�ing July 13 by Shorts Inter�na�tional. It will next be shown at the Rushes Soho Short Film Fes�ti�val later this month. But for any�one hop�ing to catch a sight of Rob pro�mot�ing the short, Gills said she feels chances are slim. Many things have changed in the life of Robert Pat�tin�son since he per�formed as Richard, and now he is much harder to get in con�tact with. In fact, Gills doesn�t even know if he�s seen the film, though she knows many of his fans want to.
�A whole vari�ety of peo�ple are really inter�ested, and I hope that they�ll enjoy what they see. I hope they won�t be dis�ap�pointed that there isn�t more of him, if you know what I mean,� she said. �And I hope he enjoys it too! I�ve not heard back from him about it. I think his agent saw.�
source via RPLife via ToR
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