Phoebe Bridgers talked about making her acting debut in Primetime on Saturday when the Robert Pattinson-starring film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.
At the press conference for the film — based on To Catch a Predator and its host
Chris Hansen — it was revealed that Bridgers and Primetime director Lance Oppenheim were already friends prior to filming; Oppenheim recently helmed Bridgers’ video for “Lost Boys.”
When it came to casting the role, Oppenheim mentioned Bridgers to Pattinson. “I didn’t even know Lance and Phoebe were friends,” Pattinson said at the press conference (via Variety). “When [Oppenheim] suggested her, I was like ‘Phoebe Bridgers? Why don’t we just get the queen?’”
“It was certainly super intimidating and when Lance asked me, I was like, ‘No way,’” Bridgers added. “But it turns out, working with incredible people actually makes it way easier. I thought I was going to wither with all of these guys. Instead, it was just like so fun and free.”
Bridgers said of acting for the first time. “I just trusted Lance. He made it feel like a documentary in a really fun way… I just couldn’t get over, how do you read something on a script and then act like you’re thinking of it in that moment?”
Pattinson also applauded Bridgers’ performance as one of the To Catch a Predator decoys. “She’s unbelievable,” he said. “Even on the first day, she was so relaxed. She didn’t seem nervous at all. She completely got the tone, and it’s a relatively difficult movie.”
Oppenheim, who was friends with Bridgers before she became a famous musician, previously talked about casting the musician in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’ve always known her to have an incredibly deep, almost baritone speaking voice, and I was then amazed that someone who had such a deep speaking voice could produce this beautiful, angelic singing voice,” Oppenheim said. “With how she’s able to use her voice in different environments, I kept thinking, ‘That’s exactly what a decoy would do.’ I remember texting her like, ‘This is so random, but I think you are perfect for this part,’ and she responded, ‘I don’t really act, I’ve never done it, I don’t know how.’ ”
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