Harry Potter: Robert Pattinson Explains Why He Held His Wand Like a Gun

As part of the run-up to the theatrical release of The Batman, star Robert Pattinson joined GQ in a short video looking back at his career highlights, breaking down some of his favorite or key roles as well as providing some insight and some trivia. One stop on the trip down memory lane? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As Cedric Diggory, Pattinson gained the attention of the moviegoing public for the first time, and then took some time off to pursue a music career before exploding back into the pop culture landscape as the star of Twilight. His brief but memorable time as part of the Harry Potter franchise likely prepared Pattinson for a career in visual effects-heavy movies like Twilight and The Batman, but it left some fans with questions.

Namely — what’s with the way he holds his wand? Why does it look like he’s trying to aim a rifle?

“He’s the first death in Harry Potter, which is my claim to fame,” Pattinson said in the video, which you can watch below. “It was definitely my concept to jump out of a tree at the beginning of my intro, which I then kind of repeated later on in Twilight. For some reason I always have a suggestion to be like, ‘Why doesn’t he just appear just like dropping out of a tree?’…It was so terrifying. I remember the first scene I’d shot on it was at the magical maze at the end, and I’d never done anything with special effects and stunts, and it was a big deal at the time and felt very, very intimidating. I think I read a book on method acting, and all I got out of that was just beating yourself up before every single scene. That was basically my only concept of how to prepare for a scene. I was hyping myself up as if I was going to get into a fight or something before these scenes, and just screaming into a pillow and punching myself and kind of ripping my clothing and stuff, but I had all these prosthetic wounds on, and all of the prosthetics would melt off my face and I’d have to have all of my makeup done again, but I had no concept of how to get into a psyched up physical state. I remember holding a wand, and thinking that it felt so dorky to be holding it like a magic wand, so I’m holding it like a gun with two hands [laughs], thinking I’m in like a Die Hard movie. I think I even have one eye closed when I’m looking down, like it’s got a viewfinder on it.”

You can see the video below.

Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman sees Robert Pattinson introducing a new cinematic take on DC Comics’ Dark Knight. The cast also includes Colin Farrell as The Penguin, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Real, Barry Keoghan as Officer Stanley Merkel, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth.

According to The Batman‘s official synopsis, “Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

“When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.”

The Batman opens in theaters on March 4th.