CASE STUDY

Truth is stranger than fiction. But that line may get a little blurry where The Staircase is concerned. Based on the 2004 true-crime documentary of the same name, the miniseries rehashes the story of crime novelist Michael Peterson (Colin Firth), who in 2003 went on trial for murdering his wife Kathleen (Toni Collette), who may or may not have fallen down the staircase of their North Carolina home. To that point, the series sets out to reenact every popular scenario surrounding that ambiguity. “It just became so surreal,” Toni says. “This woman died. We don’t know how she died, but there’s a big responsibility that comes with bringing a truthful quality not only to that experience, but to her life.”

TUNE IN! The Staircase premieres May 5 on Netflix.