Evan Peters talks about playing Jeffrey Dahmer. Image Source: GQ
Evan Peters talks about playing Jeffrey Dahmer.
Actor Evan Peters recently portrayed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's recently released Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and he opened up about playing a dark character during a Netflix conversation with co-stars Niecy Nash and Richard Jenkins, as well as writer Ryan Murphy.
Evan stated that he wanted to give his throughout the role, so he brought in a lot of darkness and negativity, and that to play Jeffrey Dahmer, he also put the weight on his arms to mimic the killer's walking style. The actor continued that Jeffery had a very straight back and didn't move his arms when he walked, so to get that he decided to put weights on his arms to see what that felt like, adding that he wore the character's shoes with lifts, his jeans, his glasses, and always had a cigarette in his hand.
Evan went on to say that he wanted all of the details, the external things, to be second nature when they were filming, so he watched a lot of footage and worked with a dialect coach to perfect his voice. He spoke with a distinct accent and a dialect. Evan also mentioned that he tried to listen to his 45 minute sound composite every day, hoping to understand his speech patterns, but attempting to get into his thinking style and grasp that each day that we were trying to shoot. It took a long time to find intimate time, times when he didn't seem personality, so you could get a glimpse into his life and also how he started behaving before these interview sessions and being in prison.
Evan Peters said that it was just having that end goal in sight, knowing when they were going to wrap, and finally being able to breathe and let go and say oK, now it's time to bring in the joy and liveliness and watch comedies and romances and go back to St. Louis and see his family and friends, and yeah, watch Step Brothers.
During the discussion, Evan Peters stated that he initially debated whether or not to play Jeffrey Dahmer, confessing that he was terrified when he finally said yes to the project. He stated that when he received the project scripts, he watched Jeffrey Dahmer's 1994 Dateline interview to better comprehend the psychology of that severe side of human behavior.
During the discussion, co-star Niecy Nash revealed that she approached Evan Peters at the start of filming to say hello and realized that the actor was in his process and clarified that she wanted to acknowledge that and keep him there. She went on to say that she prayed a lot for Evan Peters because this is important. And if you stay in it, tethered to the material like a bone to marrow, your soul will be troubled at some point. She said that she told him that she is just going to ensure that she maintains him in her prayers because this is a lot and he desires to do it justice and she could see how tired he was.
Following its release, the show received mixed reviews, as well as some criticism that the writer did not bother to notify the family members and friends of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims. Ryan Murphy stated during the discussion, they mentioned that it's something they've been researching for a long time and that over the three-and-a-half years they worked on it, they'd managed to reach out to approximately 20 of the victims' families and friends, trying to get insight and talking to individuals. During that time, no one responded to them, so they had to rely heavily on their amazing team of researchers, whom he claimed had no idea how they explored so much of this. Ryan added that it felt like they were working 24 hours a day to find out the truth about these people.
The series focuses on Dahmer's victims, at least 17 men and boys who he raped, murdered, and dismembered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, between 1978 and 1991. Tracy Edwards, one of the victims who managed to escape and later played a key role in Dahmer's ultimate arrest, is also showcased. According to The Associated Press, Dahmer was apprehended in July 1991 and later confessed to police to a total of 17 brutal murders. He was initially charged with four counts of first-degree premeditated murder, which were later increased to eleven counts of murder the following month.
In September 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer made a plea of "innocent and innocent because of mental disease," but in January 1992, he changed his plea to "guilty but insane." In 1992, he was sentenced to 16 life terms in prison after it was determined that he was sane and not having a mental disorder at the time of the crimes. His time in prison was cut short when he was bludgeoned to death in 1994 by cellmate Christopher Scarver.
