A box containing 200 Zyn canisters, each addressed to 'Chris Han-Zyn', was sent to Robert Pattinson as part of director Lance Oppenheim's pitch for A24's Primetime. The package included a letter that opened, 'Dear Chris Han-Zyn.'
Director Lance Oppenheim had only ever made documentaries, and here he was chasing one of Hollywood's busiest leading men for his first narrative feature. Rather than lean on agents, he went straight to the actor's habit, and the film's most-talked-about story was born.
How 200 Cans of Zyn Hooked Robert Pattinson
Oppenheim has presented the package as a pun-fuelled charm offensive, and the timing worked in his favour: Zyn was reportedly hard to find at the time and Pattinson allegedly was 'addicted' to it. A tin of nicotine pouches with a joke about Chris Hansen is exactly the kind of detail that begs to be noticed. It's a gift, a gag and a pitch, all in one parcel.
Pattinson did not fold straight away. His first reaction to the offer was 'no way dude', and it took the script, the part and, apparently, the parcel to bring him round. The film is a satirical drama set in 2006 about the rise of To Catch a Predator, the Dateline NBC series in which Hansen confronted adults accused of trying to meet minors they had contacted in online chat rooms. Pattinson plays Hansen, a driven host whose show moves into a primetime slot, with Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, and Phoebe Bridgers among the cast.
Guerrilla Casting or Viral Gimmick?
Hollywood casting usually moves at the speed of agents, formal offers, and weeks of back-and-forth. Oppenheim bypassed the lot with a gift tailored to one man's tastes, which fans of scrappy filmmaking will happily call smart, personal, and impossible to ignore.
The mismatch between the two men adds to the appeal. Oppenheim made his name with documentaries about eccentric subcultures, including Some Kind of Heaven and Spermworld, while Pattinson has spent his post-Twilight years working with idiosyncratic directors such as David Cronenberg and Robert Eggers. A box of pouches suggests Oppenheim understood that this actor has an appetite for the odd.
Not everyone will see it as harmless fun, since the stunt works precisely because it targets a habit during a shortage. The memes arrived anyway. A film news account posted images of Pattinson in character beside a Zyn tin, and the post pulled in plenty of engagement.
Chris Hansen's Take on the Impression
The real Chris Hansen has called Pattinson's performance a 'pretty good imitation' but found it overly dramatic, and he hasn't yet seen the film in full. He has also reportedly used the attention around the release to promote his own true-crime network, TruBlu. Pattinson says he simply hopes Hansen likes the movie.
When Primetime opened on 25 September, it brought a dark look at a 2006 television phenomenon to the big screen. But the most surreal part of the production happened off-camera, where a box of hard-to-find pouches did the heavy lifting. Formal agent calls may still be the industry standard, but Oppenheim's unorthodox care package proved that indie guerrilla tactics are alive, well, and heavily mint-flavoured.
