Now that is the A24 Prime time available to stream at home, it’s time to revisit the authentic new psychological thriller. From a documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheimthe film is highly praised for its elegant and daring visual style, Robert Pattinson‘frennic and restless performance, and his amazing supporting cast, Merritt Weaver and Skyler Gisondo. Behind the scenes, however, filming Prime time It was an exercise in flexibility, with Wever, a three-time Emmy Award winner, calling it a “learning curve.”
Inspirational picture of growth Chris Hansen (Pattinson) and controversial NBC To catch a Predator aside, Wever speaks Perry Nemiroff about the shooting process and opening up about working with Oppenheim and Pattinson, who have an unpredictable nature on set, now, famous. In this episode of Collider Women’s Nightthe actress shares stories from the set about the director’s off-the-cuff approach to the script, collaborating on scenes with Pattinson, and most notably, why she regrets one of her most intense scenes in the film.
Robert Pattinson’s inconsistency was pushing Merritt Wever Over the Edge
“That, from the conversation I was given, seemed to be the only practice.”
In her review, Collider’s Taylor’s Gates calls Prime time It was Pattinson’s most impressive performance “not just this year, but his entire career,” noting that his choices were “invisible and strange.” Likewise, she praises Wever’s turn as fictional producer Andie Bender, tasked with keeping the show on the road and Hansen in line, as a “silent killer.”
Speaking to Nemiroff, Wever touched on the dynamic between Hansen and Bender, pointing out the parallels on set.
“Rob plays it so that you don’t know what direction he was going in with Chris. And it’s interesting, I find that the version in the film is very established. So it was a helpful thing to have between us as actors because it mirrored the kind of character dynamic, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, but my job is to lead us in the direction we need to go.’
Sometimes I would work with Rob, and Chris would be in such a high place, and I was in this, as you said, based …
Throughout the film, Andie’s job is to keep Hansen’s erratic behavior from ruining their prime time slot, and she takes this responsibility seriously as the host’s mental state continues to deteriorate. But there is a moment, a few emotions, that Wever’s character reaches where calm, cool, and “mammy stern” just didn’t cut it.
Here’s the scene where Chris rushes in and lays on the floor, and Andie, who seems to have found her limit, shouts, “If you don’t get your shit together…!” But why was this particular instance that Wever felt it was time to let Andie control her, ever so slightly?
“So this is the way I remember it, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but this is the way I remember it. In general, Rob and I didn’t talk much about how a scene was going, and especially after all the conversations I had with Lance, I would have preferred that. But I think in that scene he was just thinking about what needed to happen and where Chris.
For example, we didn’t talk, I don’t think, about him going to get on the floor. So again, I just had to chase him wherever he went. So, it seemed like that, with the conversation I got, was the only chance.”
Merritt Wever Reveals ‘Primetime’ One Regret
“I wish I had taken it a step further.”
In the final scene, Wever’s performance as Andie comes across as morally corrupt as Hansen, but in a way that is just as uncertain. While Pattinson plays Chris Hansen’s dubious ethics on his special coat sleeve, appearing flamboyantly in pursuit of ratings, Andie overshadows him, coming off as a ship’s captain, constantly steering her ship to success.
But Wever admits to Nemiroff that she regrets it. Not only that the uncertain cast about the cut Oppenheim and award-winning editor Daniel Garber she would land in the end, but she had a brutal instinct as the Andie she is now, looking back, wishing she had acted.
“It’s so funny, I remember watching Actors Studio when I was a kid, and Alec Baldwin … I think he played Stanley in A street carand I remember him saying on the show, ‘Oh, I’m a good actor, but I’m not a great actor, because there was a time where I couldn’t open the door to go off the stage,’ and I think he said, ‘I chose to step around it, and right after I stepped, I thought to myself, ‘I should have just knocked it down and taken it.’
After that scene, I remember wishing there had been a catch, and Lance wouldn’t have even used this…I remember wishing that I had been bitten. Like, I wish I had taken it a step further and it had gone up instead of down in energy. “
As it turns out, Wever may have had good reason not to follow those instincts the face the Dark Knight:
“It’s strange, I thought it was like a talking point on the A24, but so many people have been talking about chewing gum, and I was like, ‘Is that being planted?’ But for some reason, I don’t know why that stuck with people and they want to talk about it. But like I said, the idea of wanting to bite, and not biting – maybe because you don’t bite Batman without permission from insurance companies… That’s the same reason we don’t bite co-workers. Skins. Continuity. I was doing the script supervisor a favor.”
Prime time now available to rent or own on digital. Catch the full Ladies’ Night Out conversation with Wever in the video above, where she revisits her Emmy-winning performance on Nurse Jackiereflects on her career over the years, reveals the joke that got her into it M. Night Shyamalanand Signsand goes deeper into her collaboration with Oppenheim and team Prime time.