To capture Chris Hansen’s distinctive voice for the upcoming A24 film Primetime, Robert Pattinson revealed that he took an unusual approach that likely left plenty of people wondering what he was doing.
In an interview with GQ about the film, Pattinson explained that he would walk around city streets while reading disturbing case material aloud as he worked to recreate the To Catch a Predator host’s signature voice.
“It’s just such a unique voice,” Pattinson said. “It was actually incredibly difficult. He has a podcast discussing his old cases, and I was just walking around constantly trying to imitate his voice, but it’s pretty dark material. I’m wandering around the streets saying what he’s talking about, and people are incredibly confused with what’s going on. But his voice is really iconic to me, and it’s very hard to do it.”
The podcast Pattinson was referring to is Have A Seat with Chris Hansen, which continues to release new episodes weekly, giving the actor plenty of source material should a sequel ever happen.
Directed by Lance Oppenheim, Primetime explores the making of To Catch a Predator, along with the ethical concerns and media sensationalism surrounding the NBC series, which aired from 2004 to 2007.
At the heart of the film is a sting operation that ended after an assistant district attorney died by suicide when a SWAT team entered his home. The screenplay was written by Ajon Singh and is based on Luke Dittrich’s Esquire article, “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.”
Pattinson’s involvement with Primetime started behind the scenes as a producer rather than in front of the camera. “I came on as a producer initially,” he explained to GQ. “I really liked the first draft of the script. And then we thought about Lance Oppenheim, who I was developing a documentary with, as the director. I was like, ‘There’s something about his style that could connect. There’s some sort of Oliver Stone-y, Brian De Palma version of this movie, and I think his style is really perfect for it.’”
The actor also recalled helping develop the project from the ground up. “I remember two Christmases ago, I was on Zoom on Christmas Day for eight hours with Lance and Ajon, who [was writing] it on Christmas Day because we were starting in January,” Pattinson said. “It was one of those things where you’re like, ‘Okay, we’re throwing everything at this and trying to make it work.’”
As for Hansen, he has given a relatively measured reaction to Pattinson’s portrayal.
“Obviously he has practiced imitating me, and while I think it’s overly dramatic, I think there is a pretty good imitation there in the trailer,” Hansen told Entertainment Tonight.
