As Happy Face premiered<\/a> on Paramount+, its story marked a new path in the true crime genre \u2014 one told through the eyes of a serial killer\u2019s daughter. <\/p>\n Based on the life of Melissa Moore, daughter of Keith Jesperson, the series quickly drew attention for its refusal to glorify violence and its emotional lens on the fallout. <\/p>\n While the initial headlines focus on the show\u2019s premise, the cast and creative team shared with TV Fanatic what it meant to step into this world and how it personally affected them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I have my own story to tell, it\u2019s interconnected to these other families,\u201d Moore said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd so there\u2019s a sense of responsibility of how I tell my story, because when I tell my story inadvertently, my father gets attention, which means their loved one\u2019s killer gets attention, and then that can be resentful. We\u2019re not singular storytellers; we\u2019re all connected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI always felt clarity that it was Melissa\u2019s story, and I didn\u2019t really want to go into Keith\u2019s POV excessively,\u201d showrunner Jennifer Cacicio explained. \u201cWe really only went into his POV when it had to do with Melissa\u2019s story or was impacting Melissa\u2019s story in one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cBasically everything in the story is from Melissa, like she shared her father\u2019s letters, so that\u2019s how I built the Keith character and everything she wrote in her book and her podcast. We\u2019ve done our best to not glorify him, but yes, he is in the story, he\u2019s a big part of it, and he kind of looms over scenes in the story even when he\u2019s not there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally, he\u2019s easy to tell you the truth,\u201d Quaid said of Jesperson. \u201cBecause he thinks he\u2019s this master manipulator, but he\u2019s easy psychologically. Because serial killers, to do what he\u2019s done, he doesn\u2019t really have emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Quaid didn\u2019t meet Jesperson for the role, noting, \u201cThis is her story told from her point of view and mostly rightly so. I think she knows him better than he knows himself.\u201d<\/p>\n He found the scenes between Melissa and her father the most powerful: \u201cThis thing that happens back and forth with them is just, it\u2019s pretty wild.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe has this beautiful gift of empathy and openness, and people open up to her and talk to her because she is so open of heart and open of spirit, which is ironic because she is so afraid of being like her dad or having his DNA,\u201d Ashford said. <\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s afraid of any of those traits showing up in her or in her family.\u201d<\/p>\n That fear underscores a key theme of the show: \u201cIs it nature or is it nurture? Right. And what does that feel like and look like?\u201d<\/p>\n Ashford added, \u201cWhile Melissa knows that she is not like her father, that is a struggle throughout the series that we will watch her examine. I think that she will forever be burdened with the crimes that her father committed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a protector, right? And that\u2019s what his focus is,\u201d Wolk said of Melissa\u2019s husband Ben. <\/p>\n \u201cI started listening to the podcast and hearing how heinous the acts that Keith did were, and just allowing my body to take that in allowed me to carry myself a certain way on set when dealing with Melissa, when trying to protect her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt literally made me fearful and wanting to protect my own children in the show. And so the source material allowed me to form Ben, who is this protector who will do anything at any cost to protect his family.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I am not the biggest true crime fan, but being able to step into this was one was me kind of overcoming my own fears and discomfort with this material,\u201d said Tomakili, who plays Ivy. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much about the true crime world that people are trying to understand and there\u2019s a sense of safety in researching these characters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I loved about this show\u2026 was that it was centered on the victims and the family of these murderers. It felt more real, it felt more communal, it felt connected to the people who are actually having to live past or live through a lot of these crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked how he prepared for emotional scenes, Benjamin Mackey, who plays Melissa\u2019s son Max, shared: \u201cJust get in the moment in the trailer. I\u2019m getting ready. I\u2019m rehearsing. And I\u2019m thinking of the scene, and I\u2019m thinking, okay, I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Even at a young age, Mackey understood the seriousness of the subject matter. \u201cIt\u2019s been all this story for the real people, and it\u2019s been a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Happy Face<\/a> may be part of the true crime boom, but it refuses to follow the usual formula. Its power lies in who tells the story, how it\u2019s framed, and who it\u2019s really about.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Melissa Moore noted, \u201cIt\u2019s easier [than telling my own story directly] because I feel like the essence is there, and it gives freedom to show the behind-the-scenes that I could never show anybody else in any other medium.\u201d<\/p>\n In amplifying the voices of those affected \u2014 and not those who caused the harm \u2014 Happy Face redefines what a true crime series can be.<\/p>\n TV Fanatic is searching for passionate writers and contributors to share their voices across a variety of different articles. Do you think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here<\/a> for more information and next steps.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nMelissa Moore on Being Connected to Other Families<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jennifer Cacicio on Bringing Keith Jesperson<\/strong> to the Screen<\/h3>\n
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Dennis Quaid on Choosing the Role<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Annaleigh Ashford on Melissa\u2019s Inner Struggle<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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James Wolk on Playing Ben<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Tamera Tomakili on Stepping Into True Crime<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Benjamin Mackey on Taking It Seriously<\/strong><\/h3>\n
A Series That Doesn\u2019t Look Away<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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