Merritt Wever Regrets Not Taking Her Most Intense 'Primetime' Scene Even Further

Now that A24’s Primetime is available to stream at home, it’s time to revisit the certified fresh psychological thriller. From documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, the movie has been highly praised for its aesthetic and bold visual style, Robert Pattinson’s frenetic and unsettling performance, and its spectacular supporting cast, Merritt Wever and Skyler Gisondo. Behind the scenes, however, filming Primetime was an exercise in flexibility, with three-time Emmy Award winner Wever calling the experience “a learning curve.”

The provocative depiction of the rise of Chris Hansen (Pattinson) and NBC’s controversial To Catch a Predator aside, Wever talks with Perri Nemiroff about the shooting process and opens up about working alongside Oppenheim and Pattinson, whose unpredictable nature on set is, by now, well known. In this episode of Collider Ladies Night, the actress shares stories from set about the director’s off-the-cuff approach to the script, collaborating on scenes with Pattinson, and in particular, why she has regrets about one of her most intense scenes of the film.

Robert Pattinson’s Unpredictability Pushed Merritt Wever Over the Edge

"That seemed, with the dialogue I was given, the only recourse."

Image via A24

In her review, Collider’s Taylor Gates calls Primetime Pattinson’s most incredible performance “not just of this year, but of his entire career,” noting his choices were “unpredictable and bizarre.” Likewise, she praises Wever’s turn as the fictional producer Andie Bender, tasked with keeping the show on the road and Hansen in line, as “a silent killer.”

Talking with Nemiroff, Wever touched on the dynamic between Hansen and Bender, pointing out the parallels on set.

"Rob plays it so you never knew what direction he was going to go in with Chris. And it's interesting, I actually find the version in the film pretty grounded. So it was a helpful thing to have between us as actors because it mirrored the kind of character dynamic of, ‘I don't know what's going to happen, but my job is to soft-power steer us in the direction we need to go in.’

Sometimes I'd be working with Rob, and Chris would be in such an elevated kind of space, and I was in this, like you said, grounded… It was almost like two ends of the seesaw, and the more like this he would get, the more like this I would have to get to bring him down."

Image via A24, courtesy of Everett Collection

Throughout the film, it’s Andie’s job to keep Hansen’s erratic behavior from sabotaging their primetime slot, and she takes this responsibility in stride as the host’s mental state continues to deteriorate. But there’s a moment, a crescendo of emotions, that Wever’s character reaches where calm, cool, and “stern mommy” just wasn’t cutting it.

It’s the scene where Chris rushes in and lies on the floor, and Andie, who’s seemingly found her limit, shouts, “If you do not get your shit together…!” But why was it this particular instance that Wever felt it was time Andie finally let her control slip, ever so slightly?

"So this is the way that I remember it, and I don't know if it's true or not, but this is the way that I remember it. In general, Rob and I didn't talk a lot about how a scene was going to go, and especially after all the talking I had done with Lance, I preferred that. But I think that in that scene he just had his idea of what needed to happen and where Chris was.

For instance, we didn't talk, I don't think, about the fact that he was going to get on the floor. So again, I was just having to chase whatever and wherever he was going to go. So, that seemed, with the dialogue I was given, the only recourse."

Merritt Wever Reveals Her One ‘Primetime’ Regret

"I wish that I had taken it a step further."

Image via A24

In the final cut, Wever’s performance as Andie comes across as an individual as morally corrupt as Hansen, but in such an unsettlingly off-kilter way. While Pattinson plays Chris Hansen’s dubious ethics on his tailored coat sleeve, flamboyantly personifying the chase for ratings, Andie acts as his shadow, coming off as the calculated captain of a ship, steadily steering her vessel to success.

But Wever admits to Nemiroff that she does have regrets. Not only were the cast unsure of the cut Oppenheim and award-winning editor Daniel Garber would ultimately land on, but there was a violent instinct she had as Andie that she now, in retrospect, wishes she’d acted on.

"It’s so funny, I actually remember watching the Actors Studio when I was a kid, and Alec Baldwin…I think he played Stanley in Streetcar, and I remember him saying on the show, ‘Oh, I'm a good actor, but I'm not a great actor, because there was a moment where I couldn't get the door open to get off stage,’ and I think he said, ‘I chose to step around it, and right after I stepped around it, I thought to myself, ‘I should have just knocked it down and taken it.’

After that scene, I remember wishing that there had been a take, and Lance wouldn't have even used this...I remember wishing that I had bitten him. Like, I wish that I had taken it a step further and that it had escalated instead of dropping in energy."

As it turns out, maybe Wever had good reason not to follow those instincts against the Dark Knight:

"It's odd, I actually wondered if it was like an A24 talking point, but so many people have been talking about the gum chewing, 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 as I mentioned, the idea of wanting to bite, and not biting — probably because you don't bite Batman without permission from insurance companies…That’s the only reason we don't bite co-workers. Scars. Continuity. I was doing the script supervisor a favor."

Primetime is now available to rent or own on digital. Don’t miss the full Ladies Night conversation with Wever in the video above, where she revisits her Emmy-winning performance on Nurse Jackie, reflects on her career over the years, reveals the joke that landed her a role in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, and goes more in-depth on her collaboration with Oppenheim and the cast of Primetime.

Cast

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  Chris Hansen

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  Andie Bender

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  Dan Plumb

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  Phoebe Bridgers

  Del