Robert Pattinson lied to Christopher Nolan about his audition for The Batman, the actor has revealed.

The star will play the titular superhero in Matt Reeves’ upcoming DC movie and is also set to appear in Nolan’s Tenet later this month.

• Read more: The Batman movie: release date, plot details, cast and everything we know so far

Pattinson was filming Tenet when he had to go to a screen test for The Batman, but had to keep the fact he was trying out for the role a secret. “It’s funny because Chris is so secretive about everything to do with his movies,” he told the Irish Times. “And then I had to be really secretive about Batman stuff.

“So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test — I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said, ‘It’s a family emergency’, he said: ‘You’re doing the Batman audition, aren’t you?’”

Although details about Pattinson’s Tenet character have yet to be revealed, Nolan said earlier this year he played a character “called Neil in the film – or we think may be called Neil”. The movie, which has been delayed several times due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be released in the UK on August 26.

Meanwhile, filming on The Batman had to be suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis, but is reportedly set to get underway again in September. It is currently set for release on October 1, 2021.

Earlier this year, Pattinson said he wanted to take a different approach to acting on The Batman. In an interview with NME, the star was asked if there was anything he learned from his time on the nautical-themed horror The Lighthouse that he would take forward to the DC movie.

“I think whenever you bring in stuff from a previous movie into the next one, it’s always so disastrous,” he said. “When you watch the movie, you’re like, ‘I just did the same thing as I did in the other one’ and it’s kind of… you’ve always got to avoid doing that.”