Nocturnal 
Chris Hansen has finally sat down to watch Primetime, the A24 film in which Robert Pattinson plays him, and he has not held back.
The former To Catch a Predator host called Pattinson’s portrayal “so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality” during an appearance on his own podcast, Have A Seat With Chris Hansen, which was recorded with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
Primetime, directed by Lance Oppenheim, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 5 September before hitting cinemas on Friday, 25 September. It’s billed as “inspired by true events” and follows Hansen’s work fronting the NBC hidden-camera series, which ran from 2004 to 2007 and saw suspected predators confronted on camera after attempting to meet decoys posing as minors.
‘So detached, so unhinged, so dark’
Hansen didn’t mince his words when it came to Pattinson’s take on him. “This version of Chris Hansen, played by Robert Pattinson, was so detached, so unhinged, so dark, so unlikeable,” he said.
He added that the film left him unsure “what the point of it was”, telling listeners: “Obviously, I’m not objective because the character is, you know, me, but it was so detached from reality or anything I’ve experienced then or now doing the investigations.”
According to Hansen, the reaction from his team was similarly lukewarm. He said around 13 to 14 current and former crew members watched the film together and later shared their thoughts by text. One message, which he read out on the podcast, said: “We thought some of the film work was good, interesting… but in terms of a story, we got bored after the first 30 minutes.”
Hansen also took aim at director Lance Oppenheim, accusing him of wanting to make “a horror-like film with interesting photography” while ignoring “anything positive” that To Catch a Predator achieved over the years. He went further, suggesting Hollywood was trying to “demonise” him for work he believes exposed a serious issue that wasn’t being talked about before.
“In a way, it’s a hit piece on me and the series, which is weird,” he said, insisting that “almost every” scene in the film didn’t happen in real life and describing it overall as “absolutely a fictional portrayal”.
No hard feelings towards Pattinson himself
Despite the criticism of the film, Hansen has been clear that his issue isn’t with Pattinson personally. He previously told The Hollywood Reporter: “I have no issue with Robert Pattinson. I think he’s a great actor and a nice guy, and he has been very gracious in his comments about me.”
Hansen did note, however, that he’d once envisioned Denis Leary in the role, having discussed a script years before Primetime came together.
For his part, Pattinson addressed the project at Venice, saying he hoped Hansen would come round to the film, pointing to “the amount of inspiration that his character has given so many people who are involved in this for years now”.
Elsewhere, Pattinson’s Primetime performance has sparked chatter among DC fans about him potentially playing the Joker, though the actor has waved that off, praising Barry Keoghan’s take on the character instead.
As it stands, Primetime remains in cinemas, with Hansen encouraging fans of A24 or Pattinson to watch it and “make up your own mind” – just with the understanding, in his words, that it’s fiction rather than fact.
