Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Charlotte Hope on living in the minds of serial killers in ‘Catch Me A Killer’
CASTING is a crucial part of the filmmaking process. It can make or break a TV series or film.
As such, when it came to looking for an actress to play Micki Pistorius, South Africa’s first-ever serial killer profiler, the net was cast wide.
And British actress Charlotte Hope, best known for her role as Myranda in the cult fantasy series Game of Thrones, was cast as the lead in Catch Me A Killer, which is based on Pistorius’s autobiography of the same title.
The 11-part true-crime series is set in the mid-’90s. It follows Pistorius, a recently qualified forensic psychologist who joins the SAPS to track down some of the country’s most feared killers.
The prominent cases include the Station Strangler, the ABC Killer, the Cape Town Prostitute Killer, the Phoenix Strangler, the Saloon Killer and, not forgetting the murders in Cleveland and Donnybrook.
Although she is back in the UK, working on other projects, Hope agreed to a Zoom interview to chat about the role and filming in South Africa for the first time.
She said: “When I read the first couple of (lead writer) Amy Jephta’s scripts, I thought they were phenomenal and the character, she was complicated, brilliant and an underdog.
“And I love getting to play those underdog characters, where everyone underestimates her and she gets to prove them wrong.”
Having read the book, Hope met with Pistorius, who was a great help.
“She wanted to make sure she
wasn’t portrayed as weak. That there was a strength to the portrayal.
“And those kinds of roles where it is that dichotomy of someone who is incredibly strong but also unravels – the weakness comes from the strength as opposed to it just being an unravelling of character.
“Even the profession itself wasn’t accepted or recognised. She is brought in as this psychological profiler and the police force is kind of sceptical, they are just concerned with catching these serial killers.
“And for Micki, the process of understanding the killers’ psychology and what’s made them who they are today is integral to catching them. The sooner she understands them, the sooner she can catch them.”
The actress added: “It’s a very interesting time, the ’90s. It was such a
different approach. And on top of that, she’s a woman. Her gender isn’t taken as seriously and she gets to prove everyone wrong.
“The Norman Simons case is the first case she worked on, and the psychology that she explored was integral to capturing him. Once that happened, everyone started taking her process more seriously.”
Hope said she wasn’t trying mimic Pistorius in her portrayal.
“Micki has been beyond supportive. I couldn’t have asked for a kinder and more generous person. Initially, the idea of playing a real-life character is terrifying because there is so much expectation.
“With Micki, I felt a lot of pressure to do her, the character and the book, justice. And I really wanted to celebrate that work as best as I could. I was given a huge amount of free rein.
“I didn’t have a Pretoria accent. I was able to bring a lot of myself to the character.
“There’s a lot of overlaps: she had a very nomadic lifestyle when younger. And she had a BA in languages and I had a BA in languages. Earlier on in the script, her sister said her jaw was very tense, but it got cut. And I have a lot of jaw tension. There was a lot of her that I recognised in myself and I was able to bring a lot of that.
“I wasn’t trying to copy, I was bathed in her words and tried to take the performance from that.”
In the series, viewers witness Pistorius’s process while also getting to know her as a person. Recently divorced, she buries herself in her work.
On being partnered with Donna Cormack-Thomson, who plays Erika Bothes, she revealed: “She is one of my best friends now. I couldn’t speak more highly about her.
“I met Donna when she came in and auditioned – at that stage, I was already in South Africa. I asked the producers if I could sit in on the auditions because chemistry is really important to me.
“Donna came in and we did a scene from the end of the show. Bear in mind that she was only sent the script the night before. As an actor, that is hell. I would have crumbled.
“But they wanted to see a more vulnerable scene. She came in and did the scene with me and she was phenomenal. As an actor, I was in tears from her performance.
“She also happens to be the kindest, most wonderful person.”
Hope praised the crew as “some of the best in the world” and sang the praises of the directors of photography.
She also revealed: “Micki held my hand through the dark moments, made sure I was okay. She talks a lot in the book, and the show, about when you are in the serial killer’s mind to understand they are behaving the way they do. Living in that kind of space is overwhelming and very dark.
“And it took a huge emotional toll on her. She suffered a lot of PTSD. She took care of me to ensure when I entered that abyss, I didn’t go too deep, and for that, I’m beyond grateful. Knowing I had someone to pull me out when it got too dark was invaluable.”
Hope shared: “There’s a bit in the book where Micki says ‘Serial killers are not monsters; they are human beings with tortured souls. I will never condone what they do but I can understand them.’
“And it is really that. It’s about finding empathy to stop them quicker, which took a huge toll on her as well. That pressure on this one woman; the harder she worked, the fewer people died. If you live in that space all the time, that takes its toll psychologically.
“The interesting aspect of the show is that Micki is a psychologist and she, through the process, goes through her own psychological unravelling and self-awareness of it. And that’s an interesting space for an actor to explore.”
Meanwhile, Hope is already busy with other projects and has several horror movies coming out soon.
Before our time was up, she revealed she would be keen to return to South Africa for more shoots if and when the opportunity presents itself.
Killer is streaming on Showmax.
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