Back in 2011, Pam Hupp, a mom that worked for an insurance office, was accused of stabbing someone. Then, in 2016, she was accused of killing someone else. And, well, that's not all. Her mom died of blunt-force trauma and authorities recently changed the cause of death from an accident to "undetermined." Of course, all of that means that the Hupp story birthed a hit true-crime podcast and now, a series starring Renée Zellweger, The Thing About Pam. NBC shared the first images from the show and Zellweger's transformation into the "murdering Midwestern mom" may just prompt fans to do a double-take.
"Oh, gosh, if you don't recognize an actor or an actress in a performance, that's a great compliment," she told Vanity Fair of the look, which involves prosthetics, a bob hairstyle, a controversial fat suit, and clothes that are as far as you can get from the red carpet looks that make headlines. "You're not trying to tell your own story."
Thanks to the look and Hupp's "generous" and "thoughtful" character, nobody assumed she was responsible. Well, Zellweger says that was all part of the intrigue.
"It seems like she's of generous character, that she's thoughtful, and that she's a good friend," she said. "I guess that's part of the deception, isn't it? Because you might assume that that's as far as it goes."
Even the team behind the series was surprised. Jenny Klein, who also worked on Jessica Jones and The Witcher, said she was amazed at just how well Zellweger personified Hupp, down to her mannerisms.
"Seeing Renée as Pam for the first time was totally surreal," Klein explains. "I had studied so many hours of Pam, the real person, on police surveillance videos, and then here she was walking onstage in front of me. And it wasn't just the physical transformation. It was the way Pam carries herself, her dropped foot, her mannerisms, her sniffs, and even the way she often talks with her hands. It was completely mind-blowing because I didn't see Renée. I saw Pam. And that was also a little bit scary."
The show also stars Judy Greer, Katy Mixon, and Glenn Fleshler. The Thing About Pam premieres on March 8 on NBC.
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