Chris Hansen calls Pattinson’s impression of him ‘overly dramatic’ but ‘pretty good’

Chris Hansen has weighed in on Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of him in A24’s upcoming drama-thriller “Primetime,” offering a mixed verdict on the trailer that dramatizes his run as host of “To Catch a Predator.”

Mr. Hansen told Entertainment Tonight that Mr. Pattinson had clearly studied his mannerisms for the role.

“I mean, obviously he has practiced imitating me, and while I think it’s overly dramatic, I think there is a pretty good imitation there in the trailer,” Mr. Hansen said. He added that his own family has come around on the performance: “It’s not so much what I think; it’s what other people think. And you know, my wife [and] my family seem to think it’s a pretty good imitation.”

But Mr. Hansen was firmer in distancing himself from the film’s depiction of events.

“He’s saying things I never said and doing things I never did, and that’s not who I am,” he said. “I’m a nice guy, except when it comes to criminals and predators … I think people should remember that it is a work of fiction, only based on real-life events,” Hansen told ET — a line he’s echoed elsewhere, including in comments to Mediaite founder Dan Abrams on SiriusXM.

“Primetime,” from director Lance Oppenheim, stars Mr. Pattinson as Mr. Hansen during the height of the Dateline NBC franchise that ran from 2004 to 2007. The film is scheduled for its official public premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5 before opening in U.S. theaters Sept. 25.

Mr. Hansen’s comments to ET follow a rockier stretch in his public back-and-forth with A24. He has said he was not consulted for the film and has not yet seen it in full, after a private screening arranged by the studio fell apart last week. Mr. Hansen said he traveled to A24’s offices for a 10 a.m. viewing but left without watching the film after refusing to sign what he described as an unusually restrictive agreement.

“The lawyers at A24 wanted me to sign away my rights to my name, image and brand, essentially, as well as any potential legal rights that would come out of the movie,” Mr. Hansen claimed on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there.”

A source close to A24 disputed that characterization, saying Mr. Hansen had been asked to sign a standard nondisclosure agreement required of all preview audiences for an unreleased film — a routine step intended to prevent spoilers and protect the studio’s intellectual property before release.

In the days since, Mr. Hansen has continued to publicize his objections to the project even as it heads toward its release. He has purchased pre-show advertising to run before screenings of “Primetime,” promoting his own true-crime streaming service, TruBlu, to audiences who turn out to see Mr. Pattinson’s version of him.