Robert Pattinson says he hopes real-life paedophile hunter Chris Hansen ‘likes the movie’ after the TV host and journalist’s less-than-complimentary comments about Primetime so far.
The upcoming movie is inspired by the popular reality series, To Catch a Predator, hosted by Chris Hansen, which ran from 2004 to 2007.
In the show, Hansen would confront adult men who had arrived at a house to engage in sexual activity with minors, only to be met with cameras and, occasionally, an arrest.
With many questioning how Primetime will deal with the ethical issues the creation of the show chucks up, and Hansen’s role in it all, the former host himself, now 66, who wasn’t a consultant on the film, has waded into the discourse.
In various recent interviews, he’s labelled the movie ‘overly dramatic’ and a ‘ work of fiction’, although he credited the Odyssey star with a ‘good imitation’.
He added on Sirius XM’s Dan Abrams show: ‘It feels very exploitative to me. It feels sneaky and disingenuous to me.’ He’s even claimed to have bought ads promoting his own network TruBlu to run before the move in cinemas, although he hasn’t seen it himself.
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Speaking about the hubbub made by Hansen, Pattinson began: ‘Obviously, I hope he likes the movie!’.
He continued: ‘I never really set out to make a movie about Chris Hansen. I never really thought about it, and then I read [writer Ajon Singh’s] story for the script, and there’s something electrifying about it.
‘I would hope, in some ways, the amount of inspiration that his character has given so many people who are involved in this for years now – I hope it’s some kind of compliment.’
Pattinson also complimented the former Dateline NBC correspondent’s ‘magnetic presence’
The Twilight actor, 40, said: ‘I watched the show when I was younger and I didn’t even think about it. When you obsessively watch it, you realise there’s a strange alchemy with what’s going on, the aesthetics of the show, and how it was directed, and how he’s put together, and the time period.’
It was a certified ratings hit in households across America but built a controversial legacy during its time on air, ultimately getting cancelled in 2008 after the suicide of an assistant district attorney, Bill Conradt, who was subject to one of the televised sting operations.
Yet its legacy remains strong to this day.
‘Something he’s doing is the reason why people are still talking about that show 20 years later. And it’s not to do solely with the subject matter.
‘I just think there was something about the show that’s very groundbreaking, breaking the rules of television…’ he reflected, although he joked that even after thousands of hours of viewing there’s still something he can’t really put his fingers on.
‘What we were trying to capture is all of our collective enthusiasm in his mystery,’ he flatteringly concluded.
Commenting on his incredibly busy year with four major films, Pattinson said that having had a baby and therefore ‘no desire to go out at night’ meant he suddenly had ‘twice as much time to do everything, which was very, very helpful’.
But he admitted the back-to-back scheduling could have impacted him on screen,
‘The first day, the transition day, it’s kind of strange. I definitely can hear a little Chris Hansen in The Odyssey when I watch it. But it was literally a few hours later!’ he laughed.
‘But it’s funny, I think once you start spinning plates, it gets quite addictive, and you want to have your full capacity going all the time.’
He originally came on board as a producer for the movie but, after spending so much time involved in the world and character-building, ‘t it was an irresistible part after that’.
And, despite Hansen being impressed by his imitation, as he told Entertainment Tonight, Pattinson said it was hard-earned.
‘This, more than any other part I’ve done [was] just grunt work. It’s really difficult; I found his accent really difficult.’
In the end, he found a blessing through director Lance Oppenheim, who was just as dedicated to the project as he was.
‘[He’ll] will have the time and inclination to go, “I’m going to call you up for eight hours on Christmas Day”, we’re just going to talk about this for years – like literally, up until today!’
Primetime premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2026. It will arrive in UK cinemas on October 30.