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Evan Peters transforms into serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for Netflix limited series

Jeffrey Dahmer and Evan Peters
Evan will play serial killer Dahmer in a new series (Picture: Getty)

Evan Peters has transformed into the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for a new Netflix series.

Back in March, it was reported that the 34-year-old had been cast as Dahmer in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming limited series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Now, the Mare of Easttown actor has been pictured for the first time on set.

Peters – known for his roles in WandaVision and American Horror Story – was snapped in between scenes in Los Angeles, sporting his blond hair in a side parting.

He wore blue jeans, a check shirt and large glasses, and had a face mask around his neck, in line with pandemic guidelines.

Monster will dramatise 10 instances where Dahmer was almost apprehended but ultimately let go, and is also expected to explore white privilege, as the clean-cut Dahmer was given free passes and leniency by police and judges when he had been charged with petty crimes.

Niecy Nash will play Glenda Cleveland, Dahmer’s neighbour who called the police numerous times and even attempted to alert the FBI about Dahmer’s erratic behaviour.

06/08/2021 EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK! Evan Peters is spotted on set for the first time as he gets into character playing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for Ryan Murphy's new 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story'. Also pictured on the Los Angeles set were Richard Jenkins who plays Jeffrey's father, Lionel Dahmer and cast members playing family members of a victim were also seen in character. sales@theimagedirect.com Please byline:TheImageDirect.com *EXCLUSIVE PLEASE EMAIL sales@theimagedirect.com FOR FEES BEFORE USE
Peters was pictured on set (Picture: TheImageDirect.com)

Penelope Ann Miller and Richard Jenkins will play Dahmer’s mother Joyce and father Lionel, with Shaun J Brown set to play Tracy, Dahmer’s last intended victim who managed to escape, and Colin Ford cast as a character called Chazz.

Speaking to Variety, Peters said that he has been researching Dahmer’s crimes ahead of the show, saying: ‘I’ve read so much, I’ve watched so much, I’ve seen so much, and at a certain point, you’ve got to say, “All right, that’s enough.” There are beautifully written scripts. You can have all the backstory you want, but at the end of the day we’re not making a documentary. It’s more about maintaining the idea and the through line of why you’re telling the story and always having that as your guiding light.”

‘But, there’s so much material for Dahmer that I think it’s incredibly important to make it really authentic. You can play around with levels of naturalism and understatedness, versus the zany, over-the-top, “this is very clearly a TV show meant for entertainment.” 

Jeffrey Dahmer mughsot in August 1982 . (Photo by Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)
Dahmer was found guilty of 16 murders (Picture: Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)

‘It’s almost a scene by scene, episode by episode, moment by moment basis, deciding, “Okay yeah he did that there in real life” or “No he didn’t do that there, but that’s okay because it works for the story we’re trying to tell.”’

This is far from the first film or TV series to chronicle Dahmer’s crimes – Jeremy Renner played the killer in 2002’s Dahmer, while Ross Lynch most recently played him in My Friend Dahmer in 2017.

However, Monster will focus more on how the crimes were allowed to happen over more than a decade, rather than the gory details of the story.

Known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, Dahmer murdered and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, many of them underage and persons of colour.

He was convicted of 16 murders and served two years in prison before he was beaten to death by a fellow inmate in 1994 at the age of 34.

It remains to be seen if Monster will attract the same criticism aimed at American Boogeyman.

Chad Michael Murray has been cast as Ted Bundy in yet another film about the serial killer, just two years after Zac Efron took on the role.

The announcement was met with backlash, as movie fans are growing tired of serial killers like Bundy being portrayed as handsome and charming. 


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