We have a well-timed shipment of hundreds of Zyn canisters to thank, at least in part, for Robert Pattinson agreeing to portray To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen in Lance Oppenheim’s A24 hit Primetime.
That’s one of several takeaways that jump out in Alex Barasch’s Vulture profile on the director, who also co-helmed another A24 hit, You Can See Everything, this year. Pattinson, whose performance as Hansen has drawn widespread acclaim while also clearly getting under Hansen’s skin, was initially aiming to merely produce Primetime. While Ajon Singh worked to tweak the screenplay as part of a larger effort to convince Pattinson to take the lead, Oppenheim opted for a different strategy: copious amounts of admittedly euphoric nicotine pouches.
“Rob, at the time, was grappling with a Zyn addiction,” Oppenheim told Vulture.
Simultaneously, the product was temporarily hard to come by in the States, which inspired the filmmaker to get in contact with a Canadian pal to have 200 canisters shipped to Pattinson in Los Angeles. Further bolstering this shrewd act of enticement was the delivery of a new draft of the Primetime script, complete with a letter addressing Pattinson as “Dear Chris Han-Zyn.”
After a successful theatrical run, Primetime, also featuring Merritt Wever and Skyler Gisondo, is expected to hit VOD platforms at the top of next month.
We previously commemorated the film’s theatrical release by taking a look back at other public figures who, like Hansen, were decidedly less than thrilled by their big (and small) screen portrayals. Take a closer look here.
