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HangupsMusic.com – The landscape of media, particularly its intersection with justice and public perception, has rarely been more complex. This intricate terrain is masterfully explored in Lance Oppenheim’s latest cinematic endeavor, Primetime, a film that delves into one of the most polarizing incidents of early 21st-century reality television. At its heart lies the tragic downfall of Texas District Attorney Bill Conradt, whose life unraveled on November 5, 2006, when a camera crew from NBC’s notorious "tabloid news" program, To Catch a Predator, converged on his residence, accompanied by a seven-man SWAT team. Conradt, who had engaged in online and telephone conversations with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old boy – but was, in reality, an adult operative of the vigilante group Perverted Justice – ended his own life with a Browning .380 pistol. This harrowing event not only triggered significant legal repercussions but also directly precipitated NBC’s decision to permanently cease production of To Catch a Predator.
This pivotal, gut-wrenching moment forms the narrative climax of Oppenheim’s Primetime. The film has already garnered immense attention, partly due to Robert Pattinson’s eerily convincing portrayal of To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, a performance already generating significant buzz for a potential Best Actor Oscar nomination. Oppenheim’s casting choices, however, extend far beyond conventional selections, assembling an eclectic ensemble that includes former NBC executive Jeff Zucker, one-time child star Jonathan Lipnicki, The Office‘s beloved Creed Bratton, and, notably for a music-focused publication, indie-rock luminary Phoebe Bridgers in her acting debut.
For the crucial role of Bill Conradt, Oppenheim made an unexpected yet inspired choice: Alex Winter. Best known globally for his iconic portrayal of Bill S. Preston, Esq. in the Bill & Ted franchise, Winter has, over the past decade and a half, forged a distinguished career as a documentary filmmaker. His acclaimed works, such as Downloaded, Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin, Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, and The YouTube Effect, frequently dissect the profound and often destructive societal impacts of social media and the internet. Primetime, set precisely at the precipice of these seismic technological shifts, thus finds a deeply resonant interpreter in Winter.
We recently connected with Winter to discuss his remarkably empathetic portrayal of Conradt, his collaboration with Oppenheim, his recent return to Broadway in Waiting for Godot alongside his longtime friend Keanu Reeves, and the astonishing revelation that Oppenheim had been secretly developing the highly anticipated You Can See Everything with Nathan Fielder for three years.
Winter’s initial introduction to Primetime came through a call from casting director Francine Maisler, indicating Oppenheim’s interest in him for the role. "I knew of Lance through his documentary work quite well," Winter shared, highlighting a mutual respect within the close-knit documentary filmmaking community. "Obviously he knew my acting stuff, but we knew each other from the doc space, which is tiny. There’s like six people in that space."
The script immediately captivated Winter, particularly the character of Bill Conradt. "I was a huge fan of the script, and really interested in the character of Bill Conradt right from the jump. I was surprised at the depth of the part. It’s a small part, but there’s a lot there. And I was very fascinated by Bill Conradt."
Winter admitted his prior unfamiliarity with To Catch a Predator, explaining it simply wasn’t "his world" at the time. Yet, the film’s thematic resonance with his own work was undeniable. "The script was such a shrewd examination of media right at that nexus point before the internet happened, which, I’ve made a lot of movies about this exact thing," he elaborated. "So topically, the way our culture deals with sexual abuse and predators is of interest to me, and something I’ve tackled with the Showbiz Kids doc and have my own personal history in that space."
His attraction to the role was also deeply intertwined with Oppenheim’s unique artistic vision. "Lance, whose work I loved, his documentaries have a kind of narrative style to them. He’s got a very particular style. So that’s why Bill Conradt was of interest to me, was because of what the movie and Lance was doing with [his story]." Winter saw an opportunity to humanize a figure often demonized. "I felt like there was an opportunity to represent this cultural taboo creature in a more human way. And not to exonerate him, but just to present him as an actual human being, which is what is not often the case." His preparation involved extensive research into Conradt’s life and professional environment, interviewing district attorneys and other legal professionals in the region. "I’m a character actor by trade and by training, so I love to research and dig into backgrounds, and having a real person to investigate was helpful and interesting."
This intensive research cultivated a profound sense of empathy. "I mean, I come into these things with a sympathy for all sides," Winter explained. "Because these are all people, and they’re people who need help, whether they’re survivors or predators, they both need help. Most of the time, neither of them are getting help." While acknowledging varying degrees of sympathy for individuals like Harvey Weinstein, Winter found himself deeply sympathetic to Conradt’s plight. "It seemed like a very tragic case that involved coercion and a kind of grotesque throwing to the lions for the sake of ratings, a desperation for greater ratings, and very little nuance and examination of human beings involved."
Winter’s portrayal in Primetime imbues Conradt with a palpable inner torment, particularly during a harrowing phone call sequence. "Lance’s documentaries, he calls them ‘docufantasias.’ So there’s a dreamlike, fantasy quality to the world he’s representing," Winter noted. "Certainly, the way I came at Conradt, I wasn’t trying to be Bill Conradt; it wasn’t a biography of Bill. So there’s other stuff going on in the character I’m playing that isn’t related to him and specifically trying to litigate his story." He characterized the cinematic Conradt as a deeply lonely, tortured individual grappling with powerful compulsions. "Again, it’s not a piece of activism, it’s acting. So I didn’t do it to plant a flag in the sand or to have a message, but it was gratifying to be able to investigate this person in that way."
Oppenheim’s casting of Winter was multifaceted. On one hand, there was the "jump scare" element – the surprising recognition of "Bill S. Preston, Esq." in such a dark role, eliciting an audible gasp from the audience. On the other, Oppenheim recognized Winter’s personal history with abuse and his advocacy work. "He knew that I had a pretty deep understanding of the predator-survivor relationship and what that is," Winter stated, highlighting the complex layers he brought to the performance.
The film’s unconventional casting, including indie darling Phoebe Bridgers and The Office’s Creed Bratton, underscores Oppenheim’s unique vision. "What I love about Lance is that he’s not being meta for meta’s sake. He’s going after people to get really deep performances out of them," Winter asserted, praising Bratton’s "amazing" and "powerful" scene, which felt "like a scene out of Lance’s docs… out of Ren Faire." This blend of known personalities delivering raw, unexpected performances contributes to the film’s distinctive texture.
The sequence depicting authorities and the To Catch a Predator team descending upon Conradt’s house evokes a chilling, horror-film atmosphere. "It flips the monster," Winter observed, noting how the scene, initially framed like a hunt for "Hannibal Lecter," ultimately shifts the audience’s perception, making "the monster" Chris Hansen and the media spectacle itself. Winter openly admitted his desire for the audience to sympathize with Bill. "Again, it doesn’t mean that you exonerate him, but I felt like if I could have some small part in creating a little bit of a tweak within the cultural understanding of these people… At the end of the day, really, they are just people and they really do need help." He believes that humanizing predators, rather than caricaturing them, is ultimately beneficial for survivors, a perspective informed by his own experiences and his critiques of shows like To Catch a Predator as mere "low-hanging fruit, vigilante justice for TV ratings."
Winter views Primetime as a natural extension of his documentary work, connecting themes explored in Deep Web, Downloaded, The YouTube Effect, and Showbiz Kids. "The internet, the exploitation of people via media, how society responds to media, and also the birth of the discourse that gave rise to online communities and the discourse online, all of that is in this movie, which is so rich." He lamented the internet’s trajectory from its early promise of democratization to its current state of corporate co-option, weaponized discourse, and the "theft of people’s works" by AI. "I think we’ve landed at the worst of the worst of the worst of where this all could have ended up."
A striking revelation from the interview was Oppenheim’s clandestine work on You Can See Everything with Nathan Fielder. Winter learned of the project only after Primetime‘s Venice Film Festival premiere, sworn to secrecy. He described the combination of Oppenheim and Fielder’s sensibilities as "dynamite," praising its effectiveness in conveying the "negative effects of tech oligarchy." He believes this "docufiction" approach, while not unprecedented, offers a more accessible and entertaining way for the public to grasp complex issues compared to traditional documentaries.
Beyond his cinematic endeavors, Winter recently returned to the stage, starring in Waiting for Godot on Broadway with Keanu Reeves. This marked a deeply personal return to theater for Winter, who spent his youth on Broadway, a period he describes as a "mixed bag of the greatest time in my life and a very horrific time." The experience of collaborating with Reeves, outside of their iconic Bill & Ted dynamic, was profoundly meaningful. "We’re kind of like brothers," Winter said of their bond, which he believes enabled them to navigate the immense pressure of the production. "The depth of trust that we have enabled us to do the show." The success of Godot has reignited Winter’s passion for theater; he is co-producing and acting in an Arthur Miller play, Incident at Vichy, in New York in May.
Looking ahead, Winter is busy with new projects, including the recently released film Adulthood and another feature he plans to shoot next year. As the awards season approaches, Winter expressed optimism for Primetime and You Can See Everything, hoping for recognition that would not only be a triumph for Oppenheim and the documentary space but also for the broader fight against tech oligarchy. He lauded Oppenheim and his team as "wide-eyed and passionate and uncynical and humble," concluding, "It really couldn’t happen to a nicer person."
Alex Winter’s multifaceted career, bridging iconic acting roles with incisive documentary filmmaking and a recent theatrical resurgence, positions him as a crucial voice in the ongoing cultural conversation. His work in Primetime exemplifies a fearless commitment to exploring the nuanced, often uncomfortable truths at the heart of our digital age, challenging audiences to look beyond sensationalism and confront the complex humanity within every story.
