Pattinson Says Primetime Does Not Condemn Chris Hansen

Robert Pattinson has described Primetime as a psychological portrait of television journalist Chris Hansen rather than a personal condemnation of the former host of To Catch A Predator. Speaking to the Press Association at the BFI London Film Festival screening, the British actor explained how the film examines the cultural impact of the American reality series and the public fascination with its confrontational investigations.

Directed by Lance Oppenheim and written by Ajon Singh, the film dramatizes the production of the NBC series, which aired from 2004 to 2007. Pattinson plays Hansen, who worked with a vigilante group to expose alleged child predators through sting operations.

The program was officially canceled in 2008 following a 2006 operation involving Texas assistant district attorney Bill Conradt. Conradt shot himself after officers and a film crew reportedly entered his home, and the episode was never broadcast.

Pattinson said his approach focused on capturing the broader atmosphere surrounding Hansen's public image rather than presenting a definitive judgment of the journalist's character.

"It's a portrait, and it's not an indictment of Chris as a person at all and was never supposed to be like 'oh this is who he is,'" said Robert Pattinson.

The actor initially planned to produce the film before deciding to take the lead role. He said the screenplay and the opportunity to reconsider a familiar television personality from an unexpected perspective influenced his decision.

"I mean, it's the script first of all. I was familiar with him, and I liked the show. I thought it was really interesting when I was younger," Pattinson said.

He explained that the film's approach made a recognizable public figure compelling to portray.

"But it's just always an interesting thing where you have someone who feels like a very kind of familiar puppet figure, and you find someone who's looking at him from a really unusual angle that's just very surprising to you, and it's familiar enough to be recognisable, but at the same time totally surprising," Pattinson said.

Pattinson also conducted extensive research into the television program and the consequences of Hansen's unusual experience as a public figure.

"I did an enormous amount of research into what happened with To Catch A Predator and what happened to him as a public figure is entirely unique," Pattinson said.

He contrasted Hansen's public recognition with the experiences of other journalists who covered similar stories.

"A lot of other people covered the same news stories, but no one's had what happened to Chris happen to them," Pattinson said.

The actor also considered how Hansen became widely recognizable through internet culture.

"For such a long time, there was this like memeability about him and it doesn't make an enormous amount of sense why that happened. It's fascinating," Pattinson said.

Singh based the screenplay on a 2007 Esquire article detailing the incident involving Conradt. The screenwriter said his childhood exposure to the program influenced the intensity of the film's dramatic approach.

"We've taken things to the dramatic extreme, and that's how I kind of view life itself, for better or worse," Singh said.

Singh described the series as a disturbing viewing experience that stayed with him from childhood.

"The show itself had such a powerful effect on me because I watched it as a child, frankly, which is a strange thing to watch as a child," Singh said.

He explained that the shock of seeing the program at a young age shaped his writing.

"But I think I sort of channelled that energy of watching something so shocking when you're not ready for it," Singh said.

Singh said he and Oppenheim did not intend to deliver a moral verdict on vigilante investigations or the public exposure of alleged offenders.

"We kind of just want to ask a question because, frankly, I don't even know what my opinion is on it," Singh said.

He acknowledged the tension between removing online predators from public spaces and examining why audiences are drawn to confrontational television.

"Putting online predators away is good. But what does it reveal about society and humanity that we like watching these things?" Singh said.

Singh also referenced the possibility of the United States broadcasting an execution, connecting that prospect to public interest in punitive spectacles.

"Just a few days ago, we saw that the US might broadcast an execution. How strange to me. But at the end of the day, everyone was watching To Catch A Predator and it was one of the highest-rated shows on television," Singh said.

He acknowledged his own participation in the program's audience.

"I was watching it. So, it's sort of hypocritical for me to go out and say people shouldn't be watching," Singh said.

The screenwriter framed the film's questions within a longer history of public punishment and spectacle.

"Part of the thesis of the film is this ancient practice – you had the public square, you had the pillories, you had an executioner. It reveals something about humanity. I think more than anything else," Singh said.

Hansen has publicly criticized the film, claiming it seeks to "demonise" him. Singh said he was pleased that the television host continued encouraging audiences to watch the production and form their own judgments.

"I can't control how he feels but I've been surprised that he keeps telling people to go watch it and make up their own minds, which I've been delighted by as I think that's the right approach," Singh said.

Oppenheim, whose previous work focused on documentaries, described Primetime as his first feature film. He said the project offered an opportunity to reverse his usual approach to portraying real people and their experiences.

"I feel like most of the documentaries I made up to this point, I was kind of turning human drama into a Hollywood drama. That's always the way I'm interested in the kind of inhabiting a subjectivity or expressing the stories of real people in that specific sort of way, but with this film I wanted to do the opposite," Oppenheim said.

The director said he sought to transform a familiar television story into an unsettling cinematic experience that reflected the conflicting emotions associated with watching the original series.

"I wanted to take a Hollywood drama and turn it into a fever dream. I wanted to make something that was totally unlike anything hopefully you've ever seen before. I wanted to riff off the feeling that you'd get when you'd watch the show, which is a very complicated, strange, confusing feeling.

At some points, it's completely horrifying. Then it's completely hilarious. Then it's horrifying again, and that makes you feel like you need to take a shower after you've watched it," Oppenheim said.