Robert Pattinson Just Realized That He Based His ‘Mickey 17’ Accent Off Steve Buscemi’s ‘Fargo’ Character: ‘I Kind of Did It by Accident’

Robert Pattinson had a revelation at the Berlin Film Festival press conference for Bong Joon Ho‘s “Mickey 17“: He based one of his wacky accents in the movie off of Steve Buscemi’s “Fargo” character.

In the sci-fi comedy, Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, who signs up to be an “expendable” on a new human colony and undertakes dangerous assignments he is not expected to survive. Each time he dies, a new body is generated, and much of the film’s plot is based on the adventures of his 17th and 18th clones — who both sport slightly different yet equally strange accents.

“I actually think I realized today what I was doing,” Pattinson said when asked about his inspiration, bursting into laughter. “We were doing an interview earlier and Bong said one of the thoughts he was having for 18 was Peter Stormare from ‘Fargo.’ And then I think how that went into my head was to do Steve Buscemi as 17 and I kind of did it by accident, but I don’t think I realized that until today. I thought I was doing something else.”

The sci-fi comedy stars Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a broke man who “signs up to be an ‘expendable,’ a disposable clone worker, on the human colony Niflheim,” according to its plot description. “As an expendable, Mickey undertakes several dangerous assignments he is not expected to survive, with a new body being regenerated each time he dies. After one of his clones, ‘Mickey 17,’ is incorrectly assumed dead, both the previous and current version, known as Mickey 18, have to grapple with the nature of being expendables and the brutal government of the colony.”

The cast of “Mickey 17,” which premieres at Berlin Film Festival on Saturday night, also includes Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo. The film was originally set to release in the U.S. on March 29, 2024, but was delayed due to the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes. It was then re-dated to Jan. 31, 2025, pushed back again to April 18 and then brought forward to March 7.