Post by JoannaL on May 23, 2019 20:20:53 GMT -5
Extremely Wicked Star Claims She Was Visited by Bundy's Victims
Lily Collins plays the role of Liz Kendall (Elizabeth “Liz” Kloepfer), the real-life girlfriend of serial killer Ted Bundy, in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. The film is not a Bundy biopic, but rather an examination that tells the story of Bundy’s crimes from Kloepfer’s point of view.
In an interview with The Guardian, Collins admitted things got so heavy she started awakening at 3:05 a.m. every night during pre-production. After doing a little research, she came to believe she was being haunted by the ghosts of the serial killer’s many victims, who were visiting her at night in an attempt to make contact. “I started being woken up by flashes of images, like the aftermath of a struggle,” she said. “I discovered that 3 a.m. is the time when the veil between the realms is the thinnest and one can be visited.” However, the actress added, it was less of a haunting and more of a heartening interaction. “I didn’t feel scared – I felt supported,” she told The Guardian. “I felt like people were saying: ‘We’re here listening. We’re here to support. Thank you for telling the story.’”
Extremely Wicked, directed by Joe Berlinger and starring Zac Efron as Bundy, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. While the cast received strong reviews, the very existence of the film itself received dubious glances from critics. After all, how many projects have there been about Ted Bundy’s fatal charm? Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson wrote that Extremely Wicked is “a further indictment of our serial killer-sick culture . . . it puts Bundy so palpably at the center of the film that we can’t help but become invested in his flights from justice. He’s the hero and Berlinger fails to properly contextualize the grim loyalty Bundy stokes.”
In a recent V.F. interview, Berlinger claimed his aim was not to glorify Bundy, but rather “to arm a new generation, a younger generation, of the realities of who does evil in this world .... [Y]ou can’t implicitly trust people.” One of the ways he sought to solidify the film’s narrative was by obtaining Kloepfer’s approval. She not only gave her stamp of approval, but also shared photo albums featuring old, chilling images of Bundy, who was ultimately executed in Florida’s electric chair in January 1989.
Collins also met Kloepfer, saying she “was so gracious” in another interview.
Source: Yohana Desta, Vanity Fair, May 3, 2019.