Peet gives a killer performance in ‘Dirty John’
Actress plays real-life murderer Betty Broderick, who shot her ex and his new wife.
Amanda Peet jokes about the 1980s makeup she wore while playing murderous ex-wife in USA’s “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story.”
She compares herself at the end of a day of filming to “a middle-age, female (version) of the Joker.”
It’s fitting she brings up Gotham’s green-haired villain because her performance in the eight-part limited series (premiering Tuesday, 9 EDT/PDT) reveals her ability to transform into a reallife killer is as impressive as Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Arthur Fleck.
In its first season, “Dirty John” (then on Bravo) told the story of John Meehan (Eric Bana), who conned Debra Newell (Connie Britton). Its followup, with a new cast, is based on another captivating true-crime saga.
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Betty mentally crumbles following the dissolution of her marriage to distinguished medical malpractice attorney Dan Broderick (Christian Slater). On November 5, 1989, days shy of her 42nd birthday, Betty fatally shot her unfaithful ex-husband and his new wife Linda, 28, in their Southern California home. She was sentenced to 32 years to life.
The limited series depicts the couple’s early years, as Dan attends medical school at Cornell and then law school at
Harvard. He and Betty escape from financial struggles and food stamps to the finer things of life, but begin to grow apart. Dan’s attention shifts to his new assistant, Linda, and Betty begins to unravel.
There’s no question about it, Peet views Betty as a murderer. “She murdered the father of her children, so I will never be able to get beyond that,” the actress says, although she believes Betty felt “cornered in a lot of ways.”
Betty focuses on being a good wife and raising four children while Dan establishes his career and connections in their community. Their split becomes so contentious that at one point she drives her truck into his house, which Slater says is the first scene he and his co-star filmed together.
Slater says the series allows viewers to see the former couple as more than “tabloid fodder” and “delve(s) into their humanity.” He believes the man he views as a power-hungry egomaniac just “stopped being interested in what (Betty) represented,” a past that embodied “a history of struggle.”
Both actors leaned on show creator and executive producer Alexandra Cunningham as a resource for developing their characters. Peet says Cunningham made Betty “relatable for me,” in terms of “how badly (Betty) wanted to be loved,” her desire to “keep up with the Joneses” and “how staunchly she held onto the illusion of her marriage.” Peet also recognizes “the depths of (Betty’s) jealousy,” conceding she, too, can be “a jealous person,” and understands feeling like one’s identity is wrapped up in being a wife. (Since 2006, she has been married to David Benioff, co-creator and executive producer of HBO’s smash hit “Game of Thrones.” They have three children.)
“I can relate to feeling like ... ‘What
am I beyond that?’”