{"id":1188024,"date":"2026-09-05T14:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T14:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1188024\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T14:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T14:32:16","slug":"robert-pattinson-on-chris-hansen-criticism-of-primetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1188024\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Pattinson on Chris Hansen Criticism of ‘Primetime’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRobert Pattinson<\/a> thinks Chris Hansen<\/a> could come around on \u201cPrimetime<\/a>,\u201d a tense thriller about the television journalist and \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d host, which premieres on Saturday afternoon at the Venice Film Festival<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe real-life Hansen has been vocal in his skepticism of the movie, which he said he hasn\u2019t seen because he declined to sign a standard NDA from the studio, A24<\/a>. But Hansen said that<\/a> based on the trailer, he finds Pattinson\u2019s portrayal \u201coverly dramatic\u201d and questioned Hollywood\u2019s motives in dramatizing the popular Dateline NBC series about child predators. (However, Hansen admitted that his family \u201cseem to think it\u2019s a pretty good imitation<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cObviously, I hope he likes the movie,\u201d Pattinson said on Saturday\u2019s Venice Film Festival press conference. \u201cThere\u2019s something electrifying about him. I would hope the amount of inspiration his character has given a lot of people for years is some kind of compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDirected by Lance Oppenheim in his narrative feature debut, \u201cPrimetime\u201d is set in the mid-2000s and follows Hansen, then the host of Dateline NBC\u2019s \u201cTo Catch a Predator,\u201d as he turns the pursuit of suspected child predators into primetime entertainment. Loosely based on the 2007\u00a0\u201cEsquire\u201d\u00a0article \u201cTonight on Dateline This Man Will Die,\u201d the movie exposes the ethical limits of Hansen\u2019s methods and the collision between journalism, policing and entertainment. \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d ultimately ended in 2008 after facing some backlash over its methods of confronting the suspects.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s something magnetic about his presence. I watched the show when I was younger and didn\u2019t think about it,\u201d Pattinson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a strange alchemy \u2014 something he\u2019s doing is the reason people are still talking about that show 20 years later. It\u2019s not to do solely with the subject matter. It was something about the show that was groundbreaking, but then he\u2019s someone centering it. There\u2019s something, even after watching literally thousands of hours of it, you can\u2019t put your finger on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPattinson was joined at Saturday\u2019s press conference by Oppenheim and co-stars Skyler Gisondo, Merritt Wever and Phoebe Bridgers. Pattinson praised Bridgers, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who makes her acting debut as a decoy in \u201cPrimetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Pattinson said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know Lance and Phoebe were friends. When he suggested her, I was like \u2018Phoebe Bridgers? Why don\u2019t we just get the queen?\u2019 Even on the first day, she was so relaxed. She didn\u2019t seem nervous at all. She completely got the tone, and it\u2019s a relatively difficult movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBridgers, for her part, described the filming process as \u201csuper intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen Lance asked me, I was like, \u2018No way, dude,’\u201d she recalled. \u201cBut 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 fun and free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOppenheim, 30, is best known for documentaries like \u201cSome Kind of Heaven,\u201d \u201cSpermworld\u201d and the HBO series \u201cRen Faire.\u201d He\u2019s described \u201cPrimetime\u201d as a \u201cdocu-fantasia,\u201d a blend of his cinematic background. He remembers discovering \u201cTo Catch a Predator,\u201d not through the show itself but through parodies on \u201cSouth Park\u201d and comedy website ebaum\u2019s World. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I finally saw \u2018To Catch a Predator,\u2019 I was amazed,\u201d Oppenheim said. \u201cChris Hansen had these one-liners like Tony Montana. But instead of \u2018Say hello to my little friend,\u2019 it was \u201dYou see how this looks, right?\u2019 I was always fascinated by the theatricality of the show. What happens when you turn one of the darkest subjects known to humankind into entertainment?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPattinson is having quite a year, starring in box office hits like \u201cThe Drama\u201d and Christopher Nolan\u2019s summer blockbuster \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d as well as Denis Villeneuve\u2019s upcoming \u201cDune: Part III.\u201d And his schedule isn\u2019t mellowing any time soon: Pattinson traveled to Venice from London, where he\u2019s filming \u201cThe Batman: Part II.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor what it\u2019s worth, Pattinson doesn\u2019t seem fazed by the nonstop clip of his work. \u201cWhen you get the momentum going, it\u2019s strangely not that hard,\u201d Pattinson said. Plus, he cracked, \u201cI just had a baby. I had no desire to go out at night, so suddenly I had twice as much time, which was helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut he joked that after filming projects back-to-back-to-back, he noticed his characters blending together. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI can definitely hear a little Chris Hansen in \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 when I watch it,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cIt was literally hours apart!\u201d <\/p>\n