Director Lance Oppenheim says he won Robert Pattinson over for “Primetime” with an unusual gift: 200 canisters of Zyn nicotine pouches, delivered to the actor’s Los Angeles home at a time when the product was scarce in the United States.
Oppenheim described the maneuver in an interview with Vulture, as The Hollywood Reporter noted. Pattinson had signed on only as a producer of the A24 film, and Oppenheim wanted him in front of the camera as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen. The director said Pattinson was struggling with a Zyn habit at the time. A friend in Canada shipped the canisters south, and Oppenheim delivered a fresh script draft with a note that began “Dear Chris Han-Zyn,” a pun on Hansen’s name.
The package supplemented a larger effort. Screenwriter Ajon Singh spent about a week reworking the Hansen character with Oppenheim to make the part harder to refuse. Pattinson was juggling “Die My Love,” “The Drama” and “The Odyssey,” yet found the revised role too compelling to pass up. When he called to commit, Oppenheim likened it to LeBron James announcing he was joining the Heat.
Pattinson has not publicly commented on the account, and A24 did not respond in the coverage reviewed. The bribery story does not appear in the film’s production notes, which describe the casting in more conventional terms and credit Pattinson’s interest in Hansen’s internal conflict and the blurred line between his professional and personal lives.
“Primetime” opened Sept. 25 to positive reviews that praised Pattinson, and the performance has generated Oscar talk. The film has earned close to $50 million against a $15 million budget, according to Variety. Oppenheim describes it as a fever dream and an elaborate form of fan fiction in place of a conventional biopic. Hansen disagrees with that framing. The former “Dateline” correspondent has been a persistent critic, calling the film a complete work of fiction.
The anecdote lands as Oppenheim’s profile rises. His documentary “You Can See Everything,” co-directed with Nathan Fielder, opened to $15 million this month. Two A24 releases in a matter of weeks have made him one of the season’s most discussed filmmakers, and the Zyn story shows the lengths he will go to land a cast.
