The admission came to light during a ‘THR Frontrunners’ panel, which also featured the creatives behind Lifetime’s ‘The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’ and ‘Where is Wendy Williams?’

Source: Bill Pullman Reveals He Almost Passed on ‘Murdaugh Murders’

June 19, 2024 6:00am

You can’t blame Bill Pullman for feeling hesitant about taking on the lead role in Lifetime’s two-part limited series Murdaugh Murders: The Movie.

It’s not that the SAG-nominated actor was worried about going dark — he’d done so not long ago, and brilliantly, in USA’s The Sinner — he simply just wasn’t aware of the tragic story of South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife and son.

“I didn’t know about him!” Pullman revealed during the THR Frontrunners Lifetime Showcase held June 6 at San Vicente Bungalows in Los Angeles. “Then I asked the people in my life about the case, and they said, ‘Oh, I hate that guy!’ I thought, ‘OK this is a nonstarter.’”

Pullman, who became widely known in the ’90s for playing nice guys in films such as Singles, Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping and Independence Day, said his fears about the role were allayed after speaking to director Greg Beeman.

“I asked him, ‘How do you think Alex felt about his wife and child?’ And he said, ‘I think he loved them very much.’ To love someone and then to kill them is a big paradox. And it’s not that you approve of what he’s done, but [as an actor] you try to suspend judgment as long as you can.’”