Robert Pattinson is on a generational run. He’s Batman. He’s in The Odyssey. He will be in Dune: Part 3. And while he’s collecting parts in blockbusters the way kids (try to) collect Pokémon cards, he still finds time to be in an indie flick or two playing absolute weirdos. He’s good at that, playing dudes who are one atom away from losing it, and his latest role in Primetime is Pattinson at his most unhinged.
Primetime is a dramatized retelling of the rise and fall of the popular Dateline NBC show To Catch a Predator— a reality TV program dedicated to catching alleged child predators in sting operations. Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, the host of the show known for deploying the phrase, “Why don’t you have a seat over there?” whenever he surprised a guy who was expecting to meet an underaged child. If you’ve ever seen that meme and wondered where it came from, congrats, now you know. (And before Primetime comes out on September 25th, check out Predators, a documentary about the show that came out last year.)
Pattinson’s impression of Hansen is so spot on it’s frightening. It’s deep and gravelly while also being kinda nasally. It makes you wonder, because Pattinson is the “put it all out there” kind of actor, how long he spent poring over episodes of To Catch a Predator to nail the effect. I don’t know if the Academy will give him a nomination for this, but it certainly seems like he’s gunning for one.