‘Unexpectedly, massively famous’: How Robert Pattinson’s experience as an overnight sensation shaped his new role
Exclusive: British actor Robert Pattinson was thrust to global heartthrob status with the release of vampire teen flick Twilight in 2008.
Now, Pattinson says becoming an overnight sensation helped him identify with his latest role as TV host Chris Hansen – who went from journalist to celebrity off the back of the success of US show To Catch a Predator – in his new movie Primetime.
Robert Pattinson delighted London Film Festival on Sunday night as he introduced his latest film, “Primetime,” Supplied
“Yeah, I guess in some ways,” he told nine.com.au on the red carpet at the London Film Festival, of the parallels between the two.
“One of the interesting things about the story is that he is dealing with something so, so serious [the show], but at the same time you’re becoming an unexpectedly massively famous person. If you’re a news reporter, I don’t think that’s the first thing you think about.
“And to see how anybody navigates becoming incredibly famous is always really interesting.”
Inspired by Dateline NBC’s decision to move To Catch a Predator into a primetime slot in 2006, Primetime follows Hansen as his candid-camera sting operations targeting paedophiles turned him into a household name.
Director Lance Oppenheim told nine.com.au it was Pattinson’s “own personal connection to the part” that gave him a deep understanding of what Hansen was going through at that point in his career.
“If I were to try and psychoanalyse him [Pattinson], and I’m not a psychoanalyst, but I think there’s a lot one can say about what he experienced becoming an overnight celebrity once Twilight came out and how he was vaulted to being a public figure and I think that’s also what this movie’s about,” Oppenheim said on the red carpet.
“It’s about Chris Hansen attempting to deal with this newfound fame, deal with the fact that he’s turning a very serious subject into a form of entertainment and trying to understand I guess where he is in the place of all that – is he a crusader, is he a journalist, entertainer? Is he an artist? Is he all the above? Is he an actor?
Robert Pattinson experience of being thrust into the spotlight with the release of Twilight in 2008 has helped shape his latest role, he tells nine.com.au Getty Images for BFI
Director Lance Oppenheim tells nine.com.au it was Pattinson “own personal connection to the part” that gave him a deep understanding to the role of Chris Hansen. Summit Entertainment
“Who knows? But he’s a man with many faces, and I think that’s what the movie gets into.”
Oppenheim said that Pattinson – who was also a producer on the film – embodied Hansen’s voice, the mannerisms and the posture but didn’t imitate him.
“What he ended up doing was Chris Hansen, but he also was doing Jerry Maguire and Dracula, and so I think there’s something beautiful about that,” he told nine.com.au.
“I don’t think we were looking for a complete one-to-one imitation.”
Lance Oppenheim (centre) says Robert Pattinson (left) embodied Hansen’s voice, the mannerisms and the posture but didn’t imitate him. A24 via AP
Merritt Wever, who plays Hansen’s producer Andie Bender, said Pattinson didn’t stay in character the whole time but was unpredictable on set – in a good way.
“I think everyone has been talking about how you were never quite sure what direction he was going to take a scene in,” Wever tells nine.com.au.
“That was kind of helpful for me and the dynamic of our characters because whenever we started a scene, I had to pay very close attention and had no idea, sometimes even geographically, where he was going to move.
“It was good for someone who’s playing the producer who has to wrangle the on-air talent.”
And it wasn’t just the actors he kept guessing.
Merritt Wever (right), who plays Hansen’s producer, said Robert Pattinson (centre) didn’t stay in character the whole time but was unpredictable on set (Pictured with director Lance Oppenheim, left). Getty Images for BFI
Writer Ajon Singh told nine.com.au he kept his portrayal of Hansen under wraps until production started.
“Rob, Lance, and I would work out of this office through the winter leading up to production, and Rob didn’t really want to show us how he was going to do the performance, but you could hear him sort of muttering to himself in the voice as we would go through the script, and that was my first glimpse into how he was going to play the character,” Singh said.
Pattinson is widely speculated to at the least earn some big awards season nominations for this role.
But, Primetime is one of just five films he’s releasing in 2026 – only matched by Anne Hathaway.
So how does the Batman star cope with the pressure of the juggle?
Robert Pattinson (far left) and his The Odyssey co-star Anne Hathaway (centre) both have five movies out in 2026. Gareth Cattermole
“I got very good at time management this year, which I’ve never been good at, ever in my life,” he tells nine.com.au with a laugh.
“I’m never late any more, which I cannot believe that’s something I would ever say, but I’m never late (apart from today).
“But, according to my clock, I’m never late.”
Primetime hits cinemas in Australia on October 29.
