Robert Pattinson has opened up about what he learned about Chris Hansen while portraying the controversial television journalist in Primetime. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the psychological thriller revisits the making of the hit reality television show, which confronted suspected child predators on camera.

For Pattinson, the role presented an opportunity to explore a personality whose public image raised questions about what might lie beneath the surface. 

During a Q&A with Official Pop Drop at the BFI London Film Festival, Robert Pattinson was asked whether playing Chris Hansen had helped him understand the journalist better and what he would want to discuss with him if they met today.

What fascinated Pattinson was Hansen’s experience and the way he handled the extraordinary situations he encountered over years of investigative television. He also found himself curious about the contrast between Hansen's composed on-camera persona and the person he might be away from the spotlight.

“He's actually like seems very levelheaded. He's very levelheaded about his understanding of things, which is what made me so interested in it because I always just want to know if someone's poised all the time on camera, what do they like when they're not on camera?," Pattinson said.

Robert Pattinson described how portraying someone does not necessarily mean fully understanding them. Instead, he compared the process to creating a portrait, explaining that he tried to put himself in Hansen’s shoes while focusing on the aspects of his personality that interested him.

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And while Pattinson was busy getting inside Hansen's head for Primetime, the conversation at the London festival also turned to something fans of the actor know all too well: his other, considerably more famous alter ego.

During the same Q&A, an interviewer remarked that the way Robert Pattinson is dressed today makes him look more like Batman than ever before. Rather than dismissing the comparison, director Lance Oppenheim embraced it, explaining that he had approached certain scenes with the Caped Crusader in mind.

Oppenheim said he considered Primetime a kind of superhero movie, particularly when Hansen confronts people during the show's sting operations. He drew inspiration from the Tim Burton-era Batman films starring Michael Keaton, noting the contrast between Batman's stoicism and Bruce Wayne's more eccentric, aloof personality.

"I wanted it to feel like uh kind of like the Tim Burton Batman movies or Michael Keaton," he said.

Oppenheim further explained that he wanted to channel elements of that contrast into Pattinson's portrayal of Hansen, whose composed television presence conceals a more complicated character.

“I like that there was something we could do. We could channel something together,” the director said, praising Pattinson's interpretation.

While The Batman Part II is paused for now, it seems that it does not want to leave Pattinson anywhere. Primetime, directed by Lance Oppenheim, is a crime thriller starring Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, the journalist behind To Catch a Predator. Set in 2006, the film explores Hansen’s efforts to make television history and the ethical questions surrounding his controversial show. It was released in US theaters on September 25, 2026.

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