Zac Efron has signed on to play Ted Bundy, bringing the total number of former Disney stars playing infamous serial killers up to ‘two’. (Ross Lynch, who found fame as Austin Moon on the Disney Channel series ‘Austin & Ally‘, will be playing Jeffrey Dahmer in the upcoming film ‘My Friend Dahmer‘.)
Efron will be bringing to life one of the history’s most notorious serial killers in the none-too-subtly-named ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile‘, an award-winning script by Michael Werwie that ended up on Hollywood‘s Black List.
It examines the dysfunctional relationship between Bundy – who before his execution in 1989 confessed to 30 homicides of young women and girls during the 1970s, although the true victim count remains unknown and could be much higher – and his long-time girlfriend, Liz Kloepfer.
Bundy was a notoriously charming and charismatic person who capitalised on his good looks to lure women to their deaths. Biographer Ann Rule called him “a sadistic sociopath who took pleasure from another human’s pain and the control he had over his victims, to the point of death, and even after.” (A necrophile, he often returned to the scene of the crime to perform sexual acts on his victims until putrefaction and wild animals made it impossible.)
“I have been trying to work with Zac Efron for a long time,” said producer Nicolas Chartier. “From his dramatic turn in ‘Paperboy’ to his hilarious performance in ‘Neighbours,’ he continues to impress audiences and critics alike with his extraordinary versatility and range. We couldn’t be more excited to see him in this amazing role.”
The role of Liz has yet to be cast, but filming is expected to commence in October this year. Meanwhile, in a huge departure from the seriousness of this subject matter, Efron can next be seen as an insanely swol lifeguard in ‘Baywatch‘. A man of many talents, that.
Photo: Gustavo Cabballero / Getty.
