Parasite and Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho tapped Twilight heartthrob turned serious actor Robert Pattinson to star in his upcoming sci-fi movie Mickey 17 about a guy who gets cloned and killed a bunch in outer space. And Pattinson apparently experimented with some very funky voices for two of the clones, and Bong told him no.
“My initial idea was to do impressions of Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville [from Jackass],” Pattinson told Empire in a new interview. “I love Steve-O’s voice. We did it on the first read-through. And Bong was like, ‘That voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.’ I was like, ‘Is that a good thing?’ He was like, ‘No.’”
Because each copy of the titular Mickey, a down-on-his-luck blue collar worker turned colony ship test subject, is played by Pattinson, he had to find ways to differentiate each numbered version. “I just had this idea that he’s kind of like a dog with a complete lack of self-worth,” he said. “He just keeps turning up, reporting for duty. But then I hope the reveal is that it’s a combination of deep, misguided guilt, and also survival. It’s him just saying, ‘I’ll just keep lowering my expectations the whole time.’” Big mood, as the kids say.
Pattinson eventually settled on an equally unlikely inspiration for Mickey 17 and 18’s voices. “[Mickey 17 is] a little like Stimpy,” he told Empire, referencing the absurdist 90s Nickelodeon about chihuahua and a cat. “When 18 comes in, it’s a little bit more like Ren.” Mickey 17 hits theaters on January 31, 2025, but if you want to study up on Pattinson’s inspirations the The Ren & Stimpy Show is currently streaming on Paramount+.