Pattinson followed Cronenberg in new film

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CANNES, France, May 26 (UPI) -- Robert Pattinson said he stuck to the script while filming "Cosmopolis," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pattinson said he was in a groove with director David Cronenberg during shooting and didn't want to rock the boat by improvising in his role as the hero in the futuristic adventure flick.

"Normally when you do a movie, you can kind of blur the lines and make it your own," Pattinson told reporters after the screening. "But with this, I didn't want to change a single word, even the punctuation. That made it easier."

Pattinson said Cronenberg kept a firm hand on the tiller during the filming and was able to wall off the on-set distractions that can reduce the effectiveness of some directors. "I think David is listening so intently when you're doing a scene [that] when you feel something in a scene, you know that he's seen it, which is such a relief," Pattinson explained.

The end result was mixed reviews for Pattinson, MTV News said. Some critics thought he nailed the role as Eric Packer, but others thought it was a little bland.

But Pattinson said he thought everything went smoothly because Packer's surreal adventure made him unlike a "normal character."

"What I liked about the script initially was its lyricism and just the rhythms of it," Pattinson said.