The cast of Anna Kendrick’s ‘Woman of the Hour’ talk about not getting desensitized to true crime stories
In Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, a serial killer goes on a Dating Game-like show mid-killing spree. It sounds too ridiculous to be true. Except it’s based on a true story. Now, this film uses that event as a jumping-off point to examine sexism and masculine violence.
Tony Hale plays Ed Burke, a fictionalized version of real-life Dating Game host, Jim Lange. While Woman of the Hour puts most of its focus on the killer’s victims, “I was a little more representative of the culture at the time,” Hale explains. “And just seeing how it was off-camera […] dehumanizing and demoralizing to these women, and then on-camera not really being able to help how that bled into how he treated contestants […] the cultur[al] acceptance and allowance of it was really shocking.”
Woman of the Hour”s focus on giving due attention to the victims and their lives before the horrific violence they faced was what drew actor Daniel Zovatto (who plays real-life killer, Rodney Alcala) to the project—not only the focus on the victims, but that the film had a woman director in Kendrick, so the story was told through a female lens.
“I think it’s great that we’re not here just glorifying somebody who did horrible things to a lot of people,” Zovatto said. “I think it’s important to spend time with the victims and to really kind of understand the whole story.” In response to TMS‘ Rachel Leishman expressing that she was glad to see this focus in the film, Zovatto continued, “It’s actually really cool to hear that people like you want this. It means that Anna did it right. It’s great, man. It’s a different take on a story that we’ve heard, and hopefully that’s what makes it stand out.”
Of course, Woman of the Hour‘s female cast members have a lot to say about their roles and Kendrick’s take on telling this story.
Kathryn Gallagher plays Charlie, a fictionalized version of real-life Alcala victim, Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year-old flight attendant whom Alcala strangled in her Manhattan apartment. When Leishman brought up the film’s point of view, Gallagher expressed some shock about how unique Woman of the Hour‘s take is.
“I think it’s really wild how that hasn’t been the norm,” Gallagher said. “I feel really proud to be a part of this movie. We do tend to get sort of numb to true crime as a genre. I’ve heard countless people be like ‘I fall asleep to true crime. It calms me down.’ And I understand wanting to understand why a serial killer does the things he does, because it feels so unfathomable. But to be able to tell this story from the viewpoint of these women that had these big, beautiful, full lives ahead that were robbed from them is powerful.”
Actor Nicolette Robinson plays Laura, a fictional friend of one of Alcala’s victims who recognizes Alcala from his association with her friend when she goes to a taping of the show. Meanwhile Autumn Best plays a teen girl named Amy, a fictionalized version of one of two of Alcala’s teen victims who survived their encounters with him.
When Leishman brings up the ways in which each of the women in the film deal with moments of decision with regard to their own safety, Robinson talked about how doing this role helped her see things more clearly in her own life.
“We all have experienced this in our own lives,” Robinson explained. “But also just as our characters you feel these moments when your instinct is kicking in and your intuition is telling you ‘get out of here,’ or ‘don’t go that way,’ or ‘say something in this moment.’ And we’re taught so much as women to squash those just for the sake of being polite or not making somebody uncomfortable. For me, as just myself, I’m even more hyperaware of the moments in my own life where I need to step into myself a little bit more.”
Meanwhile, Best brings up the excellent point that whether someone is a victim of violence has nothing to do with how “smart” or “strong” they are. Often, not having the support system you need leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of trouble finding you.
Best says of Amy, “It’s really interesting, because she is so smart, and I feel like it’s really clear from the beginning that she kind of clocks from the first moment that she sees him that he’s dangerous, but because she doesn’t have a good support system, she puts herself in that situation, because it was what she had to do to get a meal that day.”
To watch any or all of TMS‘ Woman of the Hour interviews in full, or to check out any of our other convos, you can find them all on the TMS YouTube Channel!
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