In a clever piece of casting, former High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron takes on his darkest role yet as Ted Bundy, a clean-cut former law student who became a prolific serial killer, in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. GEORGIA HUMPHREYS
THERE have been various opportunities for Zac Efron to take a darker turn as an actor. But the former Disney star, who became a teen heartthrob around the world thanks to the High School Musical franchise, has always been hesitant, to make sure it’s the right sort of role.
“More often than not, they’re something I’m not necessarily interested in lending my image to and they do seem like glorifying somebody, that we’re telling a random story for no purpose,” notes the affable 31-year-old, who was born in California.
That’s why he had reservations at first about playing Ted Bundy, one of America’s most notorious serial killers, in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, based on the non-fiction memoir by Elizabeth Kendall – the pseudonym Liz Kloepfer, who was Bundy’s long-term girlfriend, used when she penned the book.
But after talking it through with director Joe Berlinger, who also made the recent Netflix documentary series Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, he changed his mind.
“This isn’t the procedural ‘evil guy, body count stacking up and then he gets caught and now you know about that person, how bad they were’,” explains Zac, whose other film credits include Baywatch, and The Greatest Showman.
“This puts you in the shoes of Liz, the person who was closest to Ted Bundy in his life, and through the perspective of the audience in that era; they knew a man named Ted Bundy, and that’s it.”
For Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe, the casting of someone like Efron was purposeful, because “to a certain segment of the population” he is “a guy who can do no wrong”.
“I want the audience to have the
same experience as the people who trusted Bundy, and part of that experience is actually rooting for Ted for the first part of the movie,” adds the 57-year-old American.
The story follows single mother Liz, played brilliantly by Lily Collins, as she meets Ted on a night out, and thinks she’s found the man of her dreams.
They move in together, becoming a family unit along with her daughter from a previous relationship,
Molly.
A few years later, he’s arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, before being linked to murders in multiple states – but Liz refuses to believe Ted is guilty for a long time.
A former law student, he insists he’s been framed and chooses to defend himself in America’s first nationally televised trial, while, as time goes on, Liz starts to question what she believes.
Discussing her character, Lily, 30, suggests: “She only knew the man that she was faced with, and that was a man that, to her, loved her, loved her child. He was supportive of her, she was supportive of him and she has never seen this other side – this ‘so-called’ side, because she didn’t believe it to be true.
“She wasn’t privy to any of the imagery and what’s really going on, the court cases – until they were televised she wouldn’t have seen anything,” continues the actress, known for her role in BBC series Les Miserables, and who stars in film Tolkien, also released this week.
“So, playing that part at the beginning, as well as at the very end, was an interesting character arc for me, or for any actress, to come in and play, because there are so many different levels that she goes through in this story.”
It was just days before he was executed in Florida on January 24, 1989, that Bundy finally confessed to murdering more than 30 women between 1974 and 1978 (though experts believe the true number of victims is much higher).
A question the film raises is whether Ted, who used his good looks and charm to lure his victims to their death, actually ever loved Liz.
As Zac puts it: “Is a sociopath or a psychopath capable of love?” What does Lily think?
“I met with Liz and her daughter Molly and I think it’s my understanding they felt love there...” responds the star, who is the daughter of musician Phil Collins, and was born in Surrey but moved to LA with her mum as a child.
“She showed me hand-written love letters from him to her, that were so powerful, so deeply written that it was embossed in there, and you could feel energy, you could feel love, you could feel whatever emotion it was that you were feeling, it was
there.
She showed me hand-written love letters from him... that were so powerful...you could feel love...it was there Lily Collins on meeting Bundy’s former partner Liz Kloepfer