The Substance gave Demi Moore her due and continued to prove that Margaret Qualley is adventurous beyond ordinary human capacity. The film also (in a role originally meant for the late Ray Liotta) showed that Dennis Quaid is willing to do incredibly disgusting things onscreen to deliver a revolting yet captivating performance, and he’ll keep that vibe alive while portraying a killer in the upcoming Happy Face series.
The title is both deceptive and illustrative, given that Quaid will portray real-life murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, the so-called “Happy Face Killer,” for Paramount+. Jesperson was also the subject of a Lifetime movie starring David Arquette, but we will wipe away that memory and piece together some clues on what to expect from the TV series.
Plot
Happy Face will go the true crime route and will be inspired by the iHeartPodcasts Happy Face podcast that chronicled Melissa Moore’s mid 1990s experience of learning that her dad, Jesperson, is a serial killer who signed his notes with a happy face (and he did so before a certain Sons Of Anarchy character was made to pay for his similar deeds).
As Happy Face podcast description details, Moore’s “doubt spiral” led to this question: “When you look like your father, and you share his intelligence and charisma, how do you know you’re not a psychopath, too?” The podcast further told the story of Jesperson’s “brutal crimes, and the cat and mouse game he played with detectives and the media. But it’s also the story of the horrific legacy he gifted his children.”
In addition to taking cues from the Happy Face podcast, the TV series will also draw from Moore’s Shattered Silence autobiography, co-written by M. Bridget Cook. Annaleigh Ashford will portray Moore, and Paramount+ has provided the following series description:
Happy Face is an incarcerated serial killer who also is Melissa’s once-beloved father. After decades of no contact, he finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter;s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.
James Wolk will be on hand as (in the words of Deadline) “Melissa’s handsome, fit husband” who naturally isn’t thrilled about Jesperson’s reemergence:
Wolk plays Melissa’s handsome, fit husband, a “bank manager by day, marathon-trainer by night.” He knows Melissa’s carefully hidden secret but thinks they have left all that trauma and strain behind them for good. When he learns that the past has reached out again to interrupt their orderly lives, he’s not happy about it, and feels that Melissa is being manipulated once again by a conniving sociopath.
This limited series will run for eight episodes under Showrunner Jennifer Cacicio, who is one of many executive producers including Michael Showalter (The State), who will direct the show’s debut hour.
Cast
In addition to homicidal Quaid, the cast includes James Wolk (Mad Men, HBO’s Watchmen Tell Me A Story), Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive, Welcome To Chippendales), and David Harewood (The Merchant Of Venice, Blood Diamond).
Release Date
Happy Face will debut on Paramount+ in 2025.
Trailer
Can Quaid possibly be more horrifying as a serial killer than while eating prawns? You be the judge.
