Robert Pattinson Literally Has No Idea How He Landed Batman

"It's kind of insane," the Twilight star told Esquire

Gotham has a new hero.

Robert Pattinson is set to play Bruce Wayne in the new Batman movie.   

"It's kind of insane," the 33-year-old actor told Esquire U.K. in an interview published Thursday. "I was so far away from ever thinking it was a realistic prospect. I literally do not understand how I've got it, at all."

Pattinson wasn't the only one surprised by the casting call. After news broke that he had landed the role, which reportedly leaked before Pattinson had even auditioned, several movie lovers took to Twitter to share their mixed reactions. While the Twilight star told Variety the backlash was "less vitriolic" than he expected, he seemed to almost thrive on the response. 

"It's much more fun when you're an underdog," Pattinson told the outlet. "There's no expectation of you."

Still, there were plenty of people who believed in his acting abilities, including his director for The Lighthouse Robert Eggers.

"Even in the Twilight years I never said, 'Oh, he's just a pretty boy,'" Eggers told Esquire. "I always thought there was something interesting about him. I could tell that he wanted to be a great actor. And in the past years it's been very clear that he is."

It also didn't hurt that his Lighthouse co-star, Willem Dafoe, thought he has the jaw for it.

Pattinson was catapulted into fame after starring in the Twilight saga. Since then, he's been attracted to work that's less mainstream and has explored his craft in ways he never had before.

"For a long time you're very self-conscious in the street," he told the magazine. "You're hiding a lot, so [on set] you have an excuse to be wild. It's like being an adrenaline junkie. And also, when you don't know how to do something, why not just run headfirst into a wall? See what happens. I haven't got any other ideas."

But would he ever consider acting alongside his Twilight co-star and ex Kristen Stewart again? She seemed up for it.

"I'm down," she told Variety when asked if she'd ever want to appear in Batman or another superhero film with him. "I'm definitely not turning that down."

To read Pattinson's full interview, check out Esquire U.K..