The series adaptation of the Oscar-nominated 1987 Glenn Close/Michael Douglas thriller Fatal Attraction hits Paramount+ on Sunday, April 30, with a three-episode premiere.
The framework of the show is similar: Joshua Jackson plays Dan Gallagher, here a married district attorney who has an affair with a colleague, played by Lizzy Caplan.
Like the movie, Alex Forrest becomes obsessed with Dan, but that’s where some of the similarities stop, Caplan tells ABC Audio.
“That was sort of the point of reopening this book. It felt like while [Alex] is one of the ‘all-time greatest villains in cinematic history,’ there’s room to ask more questions about her mental health, and her upbringing and all of these decisions that she makes.”
She adds, “I think audiences have become more savvy … everything has an element of a character study now. And our show was always intended to be more of that, as opposed to, I think, the characters in the film.” She says, “Even though Glenn Close … did all of the nuanced, layered work … the film didn’t require it.”
Things are different for Dan, too, versus Douglas’ portrayal. For one thing, the series begins with him in prison for Alex’s death, with Dan insisting he didn’t kill her.
The movie sees Alex killed while invading Dan’s home, but he otherwise gets off scot-free for the affair.
Jackson laughed about that. “I mean, there is a part of me that when I was watching the movie, I was like, ‘You can’t play that guy anymore.’ Right? Like, I just, I was looking at it just like, ‘Wow, I would love to just do that one time where you … can’t make a wrong choice. Everybody supports you in everything that you do all of the time.’ It’s amazing.”
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