Chris Hansen Questions ‘Hollywood’s Motive’ Behind “Primetime”, Says He Had No Say in Who Plays Him
Chris Hansen Questions ‘Hollywood’s Motive’ Behind “Primetime”, Says He Had No Say in Who Plays Him
Rebecca AizinTue, August 18, 2026 at 3:45 PM UTC
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Chris Hansen attends the DailyMail.com and Elite Daily holiday party at Vandal on December 7, 2016 in New York City ; Robert Pattinson in PrimetimeCredit: Noam Galai/WireImage; A24 -
Chris Hansen says he wasn’t consulted on Primetime until after the movie was already made
Robert Pattinson stars as Hansen in the A24 psychological thriller premiering at the Venice Film Festival
Hansen continues investigating sex offenders in his series Takedown which has aired since 2022
Chris Hansen is breaking his silence about the upcoming movie surrounding his time as the host of To Catch a Predator.
The TV host’s three-year run on the controversial program is the subject of Primetime, a psychological thriller starring Robert Pattinson as Hansen, now 66, as he sets out to make history with his 2000s hidden camera series that featured Hansen confronting adult men who believed they were meeting up with a minor for sex.
In a recent interview, Hansen said he wasn’t consulted on the movie, which he claimed was already shot before anyone from production reached out.
“A couple months ago, they came and said, ‘Hey look, we’re doing this, we’d like you to have some sort of consideration in terms of helping us with this,’ ” Hansen said during an Aug. 17 interview with podcaster Annie Elise. “My suspicion is that they used my name because it helps in a commercial enterprise. Until I see the full movie, as a reporter, it’s sort of silly for me to talk about something that I haven’t seen yet.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the film’s distributor, A24, for comment.
Robert Pattinson in PrimetimeCredit: a24
Hansen added that he was being set up with a private screening in the coming week and would make a final determination then as to the accuracy and dramatization of the film. However, he admitted he had seen the trailer, which looked “very dramatic.”
“I know [Pattinson] is a very popular actor, and I know the director [Lance Oppenheim] is a popular guy,” Hansen said of his thoughts following the trailer. “I also have some questions: What’s Hollywood’s motive here?”
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As for Pattinson, 40, playing him, Hansen says he wouldn’t have been his first choice.
“Obviously they want a commercial endeavor to succeed and they think this is the way it’s going to succeed; I didn’t get to choose my own guy,” he said, before adding that he wrote his own script some time ago and would cast Denis Leary to play him “depending on the age of it all.” Leary is best known for writing his show, Rescue Me, and voicing Diego in the Ice Age franchise.
Chris Hansen visits SiriusXM studios on January 16, 2024 ; Denis Leary attends Variety’s FYC TV FEST at 1 Hotel West Hollywood on May 07, 2025Credit: Jason Mendez/Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Variety via Getty
Though he was reticent to share his opinion on the movie without seeing it first, Hansen said he hasn’t given it too much thought.
“I’ve been busy being the real Chris Hansen, so I don’t have a lot of time to focus on the fake Chris Hansen in the movie,” he said.
Though To Catch a Predator ended its run in 2007, Hansen has continued to investigate and convict would-be sex criminals in his more recent series, Takedown, which has run for multiple seasons since 2022.
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Primetime, produced by A24, costars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher and Bokeem Woodbine. It will premiere at the Venice Film Festival before releasing in theaters on Sept. 25.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
