#DiorRob interview in InStyle: Men Magazine - Singapore

ROBERT PATTINSON drops his Twilight sullenness and broods like a real man in the latest DIOR HOMME campaign.
lifestyle Dior Homme, the fragrance, debuted in 2005. Eight years later, it remains one of the fashion house’s key olfactory bastions for men.

Earlier this year, actor Robert Pattinson was announced as the new face for the scent. According to Dior, the 27-year-old is “one of those rare actors who plays with elegance and a certain casualness, an obvious modernity”. And his insouciant elan is showcased in the short film starring himself and  French model Camille Rowe. “He starts with identifying anew artistic achievements, simultaneously as the Dior man enters a new era,” adds the brand.

In the film directed by French director Romain Gavras, Pattinson lazes, fully clothed, in a bathtub, runs on rooftops, makes out with Rowe, and drives real fast along the seashore — all to the tune of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. The video has a raw, rebellious edge to it and Gavras brings out the sex-charged, animalistic appeal of the film — a direct reference to the Dior Homme eau de toilette — superbly. Here, Pattinson shares his experience working on the campaign with Gavras and Rowe.


Homme Run

In your eyes, who’s that young man wearing Dior Homme?
He smells amazing! [Laughs] Romain Gavras and I imagined someone who was quite sophisticated yet a little wild. A free spirit who does whatever he wants and is fearless about it. There certainly is a sense of relentless energy about this young man who is on his own trip, unaffected by trends. And I loved that.


What is masculine to you ?
What masculinity used to be no longer works in a modern context. It is a strange time to be a guy — and probably a strange time to be a girl! [Laughs] I always thought of it as being solid and relatively pragmatic, but masculinity is many different things, really. If you work in artistic fields, you sometimes need to have some kind of imbalance, be solid and wild, be caring and careless.

Chemistry was obviously important between you and Camille Rowe. Did you two already know each other?
We didn’t, but she had a small part in Our Day Will Come, so Romain knew she’d fit the mood perfectly. And he was right. There are little moments in the film where her presence softened what I was doing, just because she is so playful and free-spirited. She just genuinely would go with the flow.

And the film was sexy, too.
Camille has a lot to do with it. I remember seeing a 2-inch shot of her and Vincent Cassel and thinking, “That director knows how to shoot sex right.”  You rarely see that in movies, where someone really understands body language. Camille brought a grace and something very special to the film. Most of the time, fragrance commercials have a kind of “hands-off” feel — there is a distance between the viewer and... I’m not sure why. But with Romain, it is always visceral, kind of bloody, dirty and sweaty.


Was filming this campaign a freeing experience for you ?
Very much so, which was strange because I was so worried about the whole experience originally. And it ended up being so easy. I felt the energy when I was on the set. And when that happens, it means you have a director in control who knows what he wants.

How does that help?
There’s a great sense of freedom that goes with it, and as an actor, you feel you want to give it all, whatever it is. It completely made me want to work with Romain on a movie.

Via RobPattMoms