Evan Peters says he will be taking a break from "darker roles" after Dahmer

13 December 2022, 12:58

Jack Wright faces backlash over Jeffrey Dahmer TikTok

By Woodrow Whyte

"I’m going to take a little break from darker roles and explore the light"

Loading audio...

Evan Peters has revealed he is taking a break from "darker roles" after his appearance in DAHMER.

In September, Netflix and Ryan Murphy released a new series exploring the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The show is told from the perspective of his victims and it stars Evan Peters as Dahmer. It has since become one of Netflix's most-watched shows ever.

In 1992, Dahmer was found guilty of killing 16 people who were predominately Black gay men. He also committed necrophilia and cannibalism with their dead bodies.

Yesterday (Dec 12), Evan was nominated in the Best Actor in a Limited Series category at the Golden Globes for his portrayal of Dahmer.

The American Horror Story actor has played several fictional killers in the past on the FX horror series, but taking on the responsibility of portraying a real life figure who was responsible for the brutal and devastating deaths of young men and boys was a whole different challenge.

Evan Peters Dahmer. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images, Netflix

In a new Variety interview with both Evan Peters and Ryan Murphy, Evan revealed that he won't be returning to serial killer roles any time soon.

When asked what the future holds for him following the success of Dahmer, and the news that Murphy's other Netflix show The Watcher has been renewed for two more seasons, Evan said:

“I’m going to take a little break from darker roles and explore the light. It would be interesting to me to play something that is a little closer to home, a little more mundane and to explore the details of those kinds of experiences.”

In another interview with Netflix, Evan said the role was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

"I was very scared about all of the things that Dahmer did and diving into that and trying to commit to [playing this character] was absolutely going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life because I wanted it to be very authentic." Evan told Netflix. "But in order to do that, I was going to have to go to really dark places and stay there for an extended period of time."

Making DAHMER: A conversation with the cast and Ryan Murphy | Netflix

This is not the first time that Evan has spoken about the strain caused by some of his roles.

Speaking about his work on AHS – Cult, in particular – Evan told GQ: "I'm goofy, I'm silly, I like to have fun. I don't like to yell and scream. I actually hate it. I think it's disgusting and really awful, and it's been a challenge for me. Horror Story sort of demanded that of me."

"It's been all a massive stretch for me and really difficult to do," he said of playing certain AHS characters. "It's hurting my soul and Evan as a person."

"It's just exhausting. It's really mentally draining, and you don't want to go to those places ever in your life. And so you have to go there for the scenes, and it ends up integrating it somehow into your life. You're in traffic and you find yourself screaming and you're like, 'What the hell? This isn't who I am.'"

Ryan Murphy also told Entertainment Weekly that it took Evan almost two years to recover from portraying the alt-right cult leader Kai Anderson.