Top 9 Actors to Play Real Life Serial Killers
Steve Barton
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On October 1st Lionsgate Home Entertainment released The Frozen Ground on Blu-ray and DVD. The film revolves around the fight to stop a serial killer in Alaska. To celebrate the release, we’ve assembled a list of the Top 9 Actors to Play Real Life Serial Killers.
The Frozen Ground stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Radha Mitchell, Vanessa Hudgens, Dean Norris, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Cusack plays real-life serial killer Robert Hansen, and Cage portrays the man hot on his trail, Glenn Flothe (called Sgt. Jack Halcombe in the film). The movie is a thriller that tells the story of a killer that stalked the streets of Anchorage for 13 years, claiming between 17 to 21 victims.
There have been plenty of films ‘based on a true story,’ but for this list we stuck with the ones that were based directly on actual people. So sit back, relax and take a walk down memory lane with us as we look back at the…
Long before he reached superstardom fighting off hordes of undead walkers in “The Walking Dead” as Hershel Greene, Scott Wilson starred in the classic true crime film In Cold Blood based on the book by Truman Capote about murders committed by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Wilson played Hickock and Robert Blake (ironically) played Smith. The film would go on to earn four Academy Award nominations, and the real Hickock and Smith would go on to be executed by being hanged by the neck.
Charlize Theron – Aileen Wournos – Monster
One of the most mainstream entries on this list is Charlize Theron’s portrayal of Aileen Wournos. It became such a notable role because of the physical transformation Theron went through to play the role. She was nearly unrecognizable when she stepped onto the set to play Wournos, and her performance was unforgettable. Wournos would go on to be convicted for six murders (although she was suspected of seven) and executed via lethal injection. Theron’s performance would go on to receive a staggering amount of awards. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress (just the fifth time in the history of the Academy Awards in which a film’s lead actress was its sole nominee and won), Golden Globe for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Mark Harmon – Ted Bundy – The Deliberate Stranger
Mark Harmon is probably best known now for his role on “NCIS”, but he was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his 1986 portrayal of infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Adapted by the book by Richard W. Larsen, The Deliberate Stranger was a two-part television movie that aired on NBC. The film has been heralded as being incredibly accurate, and Harmon’s performance of Ted Bundy, one of the most intriguing serial killers in American history, has been said to be spot on. Polly Nelson, a member of Bundy’s final defense team, would describe Bundy as “…the very definition of heartless evil.” Bundy would go on to be executed via electric chair in 1989, and Mark Harmon would go on to continue an illustrious career including starring in series like “Reasonable Doubts”, “Chicago Hope” and finally “NCIS”.
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