ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Woman of the Hour star Daniel Zovatto about playing serial killer Rodney Alcala in Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut. Zovatto discussed the character’s complexity, filming The Dating Game scenes, and more. Based on an incredible true story, it debuts on Netflix on October 18.
“The stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a yearslong murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: I feel like it’s an odd assignment where, as an actor, you’re trying to find the humanity of a character, but you’re playing such a depraved individual and one with such complicated emotions. He just sits there sobbing sometimes instead of finishing his kills. Did you ever feel like you had a full understanding of this character, or how was that experience?
Daniel Zovatto: I mean, honestly, you just try to do your best. You try to do the homework and get to know this guy and the triggers, his upbringing, and his childhood. Everything. You just kind of put it all inside of you. Then you just jump in and play, you know?
I had Anna next to me, who is an actress and now she’s a director, but she was there. She understands the process. She understands that sometimes you need space. She was really good at that and really helpful. It just allowed me to step into this guy’s skin and play around every day and have the trust of the director, who’s encouraging to keep going.
What also was impressive about how you played the character was that, just like the victims, you kind of lured the audience with a downtempo. Then there are just these moments where Rodney just snaps. How is it just switching up that intensity? It comes so suddenly.
It was fun, man. It’s one of those things, zero to a hundred. It could be the way that he said something and he didn’t like how he said it, or it could be the way that somebody reacted to what he said, you know? I think it’s just a thing that makes him interesting. It’s something that I thought about and wanted to play around with. Again, Anna was like, “Let’s try it all.” It was cool, man. It was fun as an actor.
They wonderfully recreated The Dating Game set, which looks phenomenal in the film. How was that whole experience? Because it looks like a time capsule. It’s incredible.
Dude, that was one of my favorite pieces to film because they built the set. I mean, it looked amazing. The stage moves, the lights, they even have the old cameras from that era. But we shot it like a play, which was really cool. I think it was like a 20-page scene, at least, from the moment Tony comes in, the show begins, the contestants are revealed, and then Anna’s character, Cheryl, comes in.
We did that whole thing like a play. We never cut. We just went through the whole show. We rehearsed it during the weekend, and then we spent like a whole week or a week and a half doing that portion of the movie. So it felt like we were in the show. It felt like it was a play. It didn’t feel like it was little pieces cut together. So, it was really cool, and I had a blast with the boys. It was fun, man.
Thanks to Daniel Zovatto for speaking about Woman of the Hour.
