Dennis Quaid is set to mark a haunting role in his filmography: Playing a serial killer. Starring alongside Annaleigh Ashford, upcoming Paramount+ series “Happy Face” follows real-life murderer Keith Jesperson, also known as the Happy Face Killer. Ashford stars as Jesperson’s daughter Melissa Reed AKA Melissa G. Moore, who is forced to confront the carnage caused by her father during the trial of another alleged killer.
“Keith Jesperson is a serial killer,” Quaid told IndieWire of his character at Paramount+’s The Lodge in SXSW. “He killed eight women in five years. He was also a father to Annaleigh’s character, Melissa, and she had a very close relationship. Then she found out at the age of 15, when he was caught, that he was a serial killer. How do you reconcile having that loving dad, with this monster, what he did? That’s basically what the show ‘Happy Face’ is about. That’s what makes it different from a lot of other crime thrillers out there.”
“I play Melissa, who is a fictionalized version of Melissa Moore, the daughter of the Happy Face killer, and in our story, we see her come out as not only the daughter of her father who is this serial killer, the Happy Face murderer, but we also see her make this horrific act into something good to help people, not just the victims ,but also, the families of the victims.”
As for their favorite memories on set, Ashford said that it “was laughs with our incredible crew. We had some pretty heavy subject matter to tackle every day, but we had a lot of laughs together.” Quaid simply said “all the prison stuff” with a huge grin.
Tamera Tomakili, who plays Ivy, shared that hers was when “Annaleigh and I were driving in the car on a rainy day down the road and just listening to Beyoncé. It is just when ‘Cowboy Carter’ came out, so it was some good times. James Wolk, who plays Ashford’s husband in the show, also revealed his. “In episode three or four, we do this one scene in a ‘oner,’” he told IndieWire.
“It’s like a seven minute scene and it was an unbelievable experience,” he continued. “The director came in, he’s like, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to do it. We’re going to knock it out of the park!’ He came in and just delivered. I think it’s going to make for a really cool sequence.”
“Happy Face” will premiere Thursday, March 20 with two episodes, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and international markets where the service is available. Following the premiere, new episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays, with the season finale on May 1.
Jennifer Cacicio (“Your Honor,” “Shooter”) serves as showrunner for the series and executive produces alongside Robert and Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, Melissa G. Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Michael Showalter, and Jordana Mollick. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. Watch the trailer here.
Presented in partnership with Paramount+. From the Mountain to Ancient Rome, fans can step into Paramount+’s The Lodge at SXSW 2025 to experience immersive activations inspired by their favorite films and shows including “Gladiator II,” “Yellowjackets,” “Dexter: Original Sin,” “1923,” and many more.
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