VENICE, Italy (AP) — Robert Pattinson didn’t set out to play Chris Hansen in “Primetime.” But somewhere along the way, it just became “irresistible.”
“I was trying to mold the part to be the best part to play for somebody else, and then I got more and more attached to it,” Pattinson said Saturday at the Venice Film Festival, where the film is having its world premiere.
The 40-year-old English actor started out as a producer on the film about the NBC
Dateline show “To Catch a Predator.” But while he and his collaborators found that they couldn’t help but imitate Hansen while chatting about the project, he “found his accent very difficult.”
“This more than any other part that I’ve done, just grunt work,” Pattinson said.
He was also part of the reason directing duties went to Lance Oppenheim, who had only directed documentaries up until this point. Oppenheim knew of Chris Hansen and was interested in the phenomenon he’d created. However, something clicked into place when Oppenheim's wife gifted him a Cameo video and he saw Hansen performing as himself.
“To me this was a great character, a great subject,” Oppenheim said. “A person who became a persona … a person who embraced the meme of himself.”
“Primetime,” which was written by Ajon Singh, has already inspired discourse and headlines with just its trailer and subject matter. It’s based on journalist Luke Dittrich’s “Esquire” article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die,” which explores a 2006 sting operation on Texas assistant district attorney Bill Conradt. He died by suicide as police officers descended on his home with the show’s television cameras outside.
Oppenheim, in his director’s statement, said that he “wanted to trace the disparate ambitions of people who existed inside this apparatus — a journalistic crusader, a mercenary TV producer and a wide-eyed Hollywood dreamer — converging into a moment of crisis.”
Hansen was not involved in the making of the movie and has made several public comments about it, including that he had always thought Denis Leary should have played him and questioning the motives of the filmmakers. He was invited to see the movie before the festival, but took issue with the NDA he was asked to sign beforehand. There are also reports that he’s bought advertising to play in front of “Primetime” theatrical showings when it’s in theaters starting Sept. 25.
When asked to comment on the ads, Pattinson said he just hopes that Hansen likes the movie.
“The more you watch the show, there’s something magnetic about his presence,” Pattinson said. “Something he’s doing is the reason why people are still talking about that show 20 years later.”
The film also marks the acting debut of singer Phoebe Bridgers, who found it challenging.
“It was certainly super intimidating,” Bridgers said. “At first when Lance asked me I was like, ‘no way dude.’”
For Pattinson, “Primetime” is one more buzzy performance in a banner year that’s already included memorable performances in hit films from “The Drama” to “The Odyssey” and with “Dune: Part Three” still to come.
With his schedule booked for about two years straight and a new baby at home, Pattinson went straight “The Drama” to “Primetime” and then to “The Odyssey.”
“I definitely can hear a little Chris Hansen in ‘The Odyssey’ when I watch it,” he laughed.
But, he added, “once you get the momentum going, it’s actually, strangely, not that hard.”
Pattinson isn’t the only famous Brit on the Lido Saturday. Oasis members Noel and Liam Gallager are also around for the world premiere of their reunion tour documentary “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
With many movie star moments already in the rearview, from George Clooney’s lifetime achievement award to the emotional ovation for John Malkovich’s performance in “Wild Horse Nine,” the combination of Pattinson and Oasis on the same day is shaping up to be a high-wattage pinnacle for this year’s festival.
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For coverage of the 2026 Venice Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival
