Zendaya Calmed Down Robert Pattinson After ‘The Drama’ Drove Him “Crazy”

Robert Pattinson has revealed that his co-star Zendaya had to calm him down after he found himself “going crazy for three days” ahead of filming a scene for Kristoffer Borgli’s upcoming A24 movie The Drama, which follows a couple whose relationship takes an unexpected turn before their wedding day. Pattinson admitted to getting cold feet ahead of filming as he got hung up on the dialogue when he was reading through the script, believing there was a deeper interpretation that he was neglecting, which cast some doubt on the scene for him.

Pattinson certainly seems to be in tune with his emotions, having recently shared that he is now “too sensitive” to watch a certain type of movie, but in an interview with the French magazine Premiere via IndieWire, the versatile actor explained how he started spiralling ahead of shooting a scene for The Drama, prompting him to reach out to Zendaya, who managed to help him to regain his composure by offering a simple explanation. It turns out that it wasn’t that deep after all, as he explained to the publication:

“We had a scene together that was driving me crazy. I was desperately looking for its meaning, writing pages and pages of textual analysis. I ended up calling Zendaya the night before shooting the scene. I shared my doubts with her, I spoke for two hours, and after a while, very calmly, she made me understand that the line just said what it meant to say, that there was no hidden meaning. And there I was going crazy for three days.”

The Drama was announced in August 2024, with Borgli directing the feature from a script he had written himself. Indie powerhouse A24 has financed and produced the movie, with Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, and Tyler Campellone producing under their Square Peg banner, marking the continuation of a successful partnership that has resulted in several box office hits such as Hereditary and Midsommar. The team has several more movies on the way this year, but it’s understood that The Drama is a high-priority project for the studio.

Writer-Director Kristoffer Borgli Knows How to Tell a Twisted Tale

Borgli previously helmed the trippy dramedy Dream Scenario, in which Nicolas Cage stars as a hapless family man whose life is turned upside down when strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. The movie (which was another collaboration between A24 and Square Peg in addition to Saturn Films) started with a limited run in theaters in Nov. 2023 before expanding into a wide release. It was met with largely positive reviews from critics and cinemagoers, with heaps of praise for its strong lead performances.

He also penned the script for A24’s 2022 absurdist dark comedy Sick of Myself, which marked only his second feature film as a director. The movie offers a humorous look at a relationship between two competitive people that takes a vicious turn when one of them breaks through as a contemporary artist. Borgli also recently signed on to direct The Shards for HBO, adapting Bret Easton Ellis’ serial killer novel of the same name that many described as gripping and suspenseful, so it will be interesting to see exactly how much drama is involved in The Drama when it eventually comes to our screens.

Source: Premiere (via IndieWire)