Robert Pattinson Based His Good Time Character on a Man Who Lives in a Hole in the Ground

Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Vulture Festival

Robert Pattinson has avoided acting in commercial movies following his Twilight breakout, and his latest film Good Time is no exception. In the crime thriller by directors Josh and Benny Safdie, Pattinson plays Connie Nikas, a lost soul trying to survive the streets with his brother, Mark. The unwashed, skinny Connie fancies himself a counterculture philosopher, and Pattinson found the perfect real-life model for the character: a Queens man who lives in a hole in the ground.

“It’s the best story ever,” Pattinson told moderator Stacey Wilson Hunt at Vulture Festival L.A. on Saturday. “This guy lived in this hole in the ground and burrowed through into someone’s house. He would sneak into the daughter’s bedroom every day. It was a parent’s absolute nightmare. He lived in a hole attached to these people’s house.”

Pattinson also found unique inspiration for dropping weight for the role. Working with Guy Pearce on 2014’s The Rover, Pattinson stumbled upon that actor’s go-to weight-loss trick. “I remember going into his room,” Pattinson said, “and there were hundreds of cans of tuna.” But, he continued, the tuna-only method has its drawbacks: “By the end, you smell very strange.”

Pattinson Had an Odd Inspiration for His Good Time Character