Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Creator Ryan Murphy said he got in touch with his team 100 The victim’s family and friends spent three and a half years researching and preparing a Netflix series about a serial killer.
“It’s something we’ve been working on for a long time,” Murphy said Thursday at a press conference for the show at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles. “And we, in the three, three-and-a-half years we actually wrote it, worked on it, we contacted 20, around the victim’s family and friends trying to get advice, trying to talk to people in No one has responded to us during this process. So we’re very, very reliant on our incredible team of researchers who…I don’t even know how they found a lot of this stuff. But it’s very important for us to try to expose The truth of these people is like working day and night.”
Between 2022 , Dahmer horribly murdered 19 people. According to the show’s description, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a series that exposes these unconscionable crimes, driven by systemic racism and police failures. One of America’s most notorious serial killers continued his killing spree for more than a decade.” Despite its clear goals, the show was criticized for its intense focus on Dahmer’s horror and framing of victims’ stories.
In addition, the series has also received a backlash from the victims’ families, some of whom accused the anchors and the team of not getting in touch with them. Errol Lindsay’s sister Rita Isbell was killed by Dahmer 2022 Murder , criticizing streaming giants for profiting from tragic stories. Shirley Hughes, Tony Hughes’ mother who had a relationship with Dahmer before he was murdered, says series dramatized her son’s story . But Murphy and Pa who directed episode 6 and Liz Barclay says the show is about making victims more than a statistic.
“We talked a lot during production and we weren’t all that interested in Jeffrey Dahmer as a guy, but what made him became what he became,” Murphy explained. “We talk a lot…and we talk about it all the time. It’s really about white privilege. It’s about systemic racism. It’s about homophobia.”
“We really wanted it to be about celebrating these victims,” Barclays added. “That’s what this show is about when Tony writes ‘I’m not going away’ on the last card. It’s about making sure these people don’t get wiped out by history, they have a place, they’re recognized, they It’s important, they live full lives. They come from all kinds of places, but they’re real people.”
He continued, “They’re not just Numbers. They’re not just pictures on billboards and poles. They’re real people, loving families, breathing, living, hope. That’s what we want.”
Rodney Burford played Tony Hughes on the show and said through an interpreter, “You see Dahmer is just killing the rest right, no feelings, no remorse. But then, Tony shows up. He’s deaf. He’s black and it seems like all odds are against him. But Jeff likes him compared to everyone else and they bond. I have Evan [Peters], every Personally support me, so it’s nice to see that on Netflix.”
Nash Nash as Glenda Cleveland, Dahmer’s neighbor , tried on many occasions to alert police about Dahmer’s murder but was always ignored, questioning why there was no memorial to the victim.
“Anything we can do that happens, you know, I’m even more than happy to pay for it myself,” Murphy agreed. “I do think there should be something. We’re trying to get people to talk about it. I think there’s some resistance because they think the park will attract people who are interested in paying homage to scary places…but I think something should be done.”
Peters and Murphy have previously worked together on American Horror Story
, and Peters has said he wants to Play someone “normal,” maybe do a rom-com, Murphy explained. He said he went to Peters with the script after auditioning for the role of Dahmer 19. “The next day he called me and he said, ‘This is so challenging. It’s so hard, I have to say yes, even though I’m scared.'”
Peters echoed his siege of Dahmer, saying he read all the books and articles about the killer, as well as psychological reports, confessions and timelines, “trying to understand why he did what he did, and He struggles with it.”
He added: “Then it’s the physics, I know it’s going to be very difficult. There’s a lot of extra to the way he walks. In stuff, the arm doesn’t move when walking and talking. So I did a lot of research, watching him, seeing how he moved, the weight on my arm, the wardrobe, the various things I carry around all day , trying to stay in it, so it’s going to be old habit. Then I created a 80 minute audio synthesis that I listen to every day It’s trying to understand his dialect and the way he speaks and really trying to understand why he does what he does or what his mindset is.”
Peter Stress was so ingrained in the process that Nash said she didn’t even really understand the actors who knew the set.
“I didn’t know Evan because Evan was always in his process,” Nash said. “So, you know, being his nosy neighbor and a thorn in his flesh, we didn’t really connect. I thought maybe we said good morning twice? Because I forced it on him… …I realized, [I have to] stay in my driveway because I don’t want to disrupt your process and what you need to do to stay where you need to be.”
The show reached #1 in its first week on Netflix , Murphy says, in the future Sometime in a few days, it will surpass 1 billion hours of streaming.
“I don’t know how this became a phenomenon,” Nash said. “But what I really hope is that no matter where her spirit lives in the universe, Glenda Cleveland will finally feel heard.”
