Interview: Robert Pattinson Wins Over Female Co-Star With Candy

The Twilight Saga star romances Reese Witherspoon in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS but it wasn't the Oscar winning-actress that won him over to the film adaptation of Sara Gruen's novel.  It was love at first site when Robert visited Tai, the 42 year-old female elephant, who was to play Rosie the circus elephant, prior to signing on to the movie.  Robert was "not scared at all" to meet the nine thousand pound animal and was sold on the movie immediately after watching Gary Johnson, the trainer, give the command to Tai and four other elephants to sit.  They all sat down "like a dog," he said.   "Basically I decided to do the movie at that point. I hadn't even read the script."

Robert Pattinson with Tai the Elephant in Water for Elephants

The on-set romance blossomed between Tai and Robert, although he finds the whole term "on set romance" a bit unnerving.  "It sounds really disturbing... like you've been flirting with the elephant," he told CineMovie at a recent press conference with Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz.   He later confessed that he won over the "huge beast" using some tricks up his sleeve ...or more accurately, tucked under his shirt.

"I think I had a relationship with the elephant, [but] it was kind of based purely on candy.  I strategically placed mints, like, I sucked on a peppermint for a bit and then stick it onto your body, like into my armpits, covering my entire chest all the time...and not tell anyone. So every single time the elephant would be constantly sniffing me, and I'd be like, 'I don't know, she just really likes me, it's crazy!'   But yeah, I think she was just sniffing around for treats."
While Robert Pattinson was honored to be working with Oscar-winning actors Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz, he relished his time with Tai. "It's very powerful to think you can have a relationship with these huge beasts."   

Catch Robert and Tai's on screen chemistry when WATER FOR ELEPHANTS opens in movie theaters April 22, 2011.

 

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