Chris Hansen didn’t have Robert Pattinson in mind to play him the upcoming film “Primetime,” based on the journalist’s divisive “To Catch a Predator” series.
“I didn’t get to choose my own guy,” Hansen shadily said on Tuesday’s episode of the “Serialously” podcast, while discussing his thoughts on the forthcoming A24 movie.
“I always thought — I had discussions years ago, I had crafted a script — Denis Leary [would] play me, depending on the age of it all,” he shared.
Although Hansen recognized that Pattinson is “a very popular actor” he also admitted he “had some questions” about “Hollywood’s motives” with the film.
“Obviously they want a commercial endeavor to succeed and they think this is the way it’s going to succeed,” he said of Pattinson’s casting.
The TV presenter said he’s yet to see the movie, but shared that he is “going to get a private screening in the next week or so.”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ve been so busy being the real Chris Hansen, I haven’t had much time to check out the dramatized version,” he quipped. “I’m going to see it soon and once I do, we’ll talk about it.”
Hansen also noted he had zero involvement in the filming or production of the upcoming movie.
“We had heard that this was in the works. A couple months ago they came out 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,’” he recalled.
“My suspicion is that they used my name because it helps in a commercial enterprise,” he continued. “Until I see the full movie — as a reporter, it’s sort of silly for me to talk about something I haven’t seen yet.”
A24 dropped their first trailer for “Primetime” in May, in which Pattinson plays the real-life investigative journalist. The film tells the origin story of Hansen’s “To Catch a Predator” series, which ran from 2004 to 2007.
The “Odyssey” star debuted a shocking transformation in the trailer, which had fans buzzing as he drastically changed his voice to emulate Hansen’s.
“Primetime,” directed by Lance Oppenheim, is set to hit theaters Sept. 25. The film also stars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Anna Faris, Jonathan Lipnicki, Tony Revolori and Creed Bratton.
“To Catch a Predator” has been controversial since its debut. The “Dateline” series featured Hansen’s team posing as underage boys and girls on the Internet, then ambushing adult men in a sting operation after getting them to try to meet up with the minors they were posing as.
Hansen would then confront the men with embarrassing evidence of the chats, and often the men would later be arrested by police, who were waiting outside for them.
Critics questioned the vigilante approach of the show — especially after Texas assistant district attorney William “Bill” Conradt Jr. committed suicide in 2006 when “Dateline” cameras and police surrounded his house to arrest him. NBC later settled a lawsuit brought on by Conradt’s sister in 2008.
However, Hansen has been a staunch defender of the since-canceled show.
“I think we raised awareness and created a dialogue that didn’t exist before,” he told Time in February 2015. “We created compelling television, and I think we exposed a lot of bad people who were preying on children.”
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