If you haven't already heard about the chilling drama, brace yourself. The latest Netflix drop, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, tells the tale of serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, played by Evan Peters. Those who endured watching might have experienced uncomfortable moments. However, for Peters, his preparation for the role was brought to new extremes...
Aside from the fun teenage romcom, Sleepover (2004), Peters has involved himself in darker productions. He has starred in X-men: Apocalypse (2016), American Horror Story, and The Lazarus Effect (2015). So, it's safe to say he knows a thing or two about putting on a show. However, his latest role as Milwaukee's cannibal invited him into a whole new experience. The Netflix series was written by Ryan Murphy, famously known for his hit series Glee and "comprehensive storytelling" with "marginalized characters," noted The Economic Times. So, when Peters approached the role, he knew he was in for the kill. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "I wanted to give it 120% the whole way through, so I brought in a lot of darkness and negativity." He immersed himself into the character to a whole new level.
According to Hypebeast, Peters stayed in character for months as he prepared to transform into Dahmer. In order to compose himself correctly, Peters watched Dahmer's actual Dateline interview from 1994 to "dive into the psychology of that extreme side of human behavior." He noticed Dahmer has "a very straight back. He doesn't move his arms when he walks." So, Peters wore arm weights to see what that felt like. He also would wear shoes with lifts, similar jeans, and glasses, and even tortured himself by constantly smoking to mutate Dahmer's psyche. He continued to analyze, "The way that he spoke, it was very distinct, and he had a dialect." Peters went on to construct a 45-minute audio which he listened to every day - along with a dialect coach - with the aim to replicate his speech pattern and "get into his mindset." Peters wanted Dahmer's personality to become second nature. However, it wasn't an easy yes for the 35-year-old, while according to Variety, Peters went "back and forth" on whether he should commit to the role or not as it was "incredibly dark and an incredible challenge." Nevertheless, Peters pursued 4 months of preparation and 6 months of filming to create a manipulative masterpiece.
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The show gained the no.1 status and has become the platform's most-viewed show. But despite Peter's efforts, since the series' release, there have been mixed reviews and controversial responses. Though, this is not difficult to believe as Murphy went to extremes to gain the most realistic depiction as possible for his viewers...