Robert Pattinson was asked to perform sex act on a dog for Good Time

There are headlines you never expect to write - and the above is one of them. (Of course, we're not suggesting that we were ever expecting to write the headline "Robert Pattinson enthusiastically agreed to perform sex act on dog", either. But still.)

In a television interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Pattinson has said that, for his new film Good Time, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, he was asked to manually stimulate a "huge, huge" dog for a scene.

"My character, Connie, has this affinity with dogs," Pattinson said. "He thinks he is a dog, in a previous life, and he thinks he has control over animals and stuff.

"There's this one scene we shot where basically a drug dealer bursts into the room and I was sleeping with the dog and basically giving the dog a hand job."

"That was what you, the actor, Robert Pattinson was doing?" queried Kimmel, understandably keen to gain some clarity. "Or what you, the character, was doing?"

"It was a character thing," replied the star. "The director was like 'Just do it for real man, don't be a pussy'. And the dog's owner was like 'Well he's a breeder, you can. You just gotta massage the inside of his thighs.'"

Pattinson, however, declined, and was consequently provided with a fake appendage for use in the scene.

While ethicists may have some qualms over the matter, it's unclear whether the director and trainer really wanted Pattinson to engage with the animal in the manner described, or whether their comments were intended humourously.

It's also not clear exactly who issued the instruction. The crime drama, which received a standing ovation following its Cannes premiere, is in fact directed by two men: brothers Joshua Safdie and Ben Safdie.

Pattinson did tell Kimmel, however, that: "there are a lot of things in this movie which really cross the line of legality."

"Like, it's not even on the line," he said of the dog incident. "It's way beyond the line."

Good Time is playing at the New Zealand International Film Festival. Find ticketing information here.

DID YOU KNOW...

Atomic Blonde is the directorial debut for David Leitch, who was assistant director on John Wick. To prepare for her role, Charlize Theron trained with Keanu Reeves, who was preparing for his return in the John Wick sequel.