During a recent interview with Weekly entertainmentstars Keira Knightley And Carrie Coon talked about their new Hulu movie Boston Strangler. Still, despite starring in a true crime thriller, Knightley and Coon both admitted that they “can’t watch true crime anymore”.
Knightley said, “Since I’ve had kids I can’t look at it at all. Totally terrified.” Her costar similarly stated that being a mother was the reason she stopped watching true crime. Coon said: “I have to say that having kids has complicated my relationship with them. But I listened to it [the podcast] My favorite murder for a long time, [read] In Truman Capote’s Cold Blood – I really liked a good true crime.”
In Hulu’s new true crime thriller Boston Strangler, Knightley plays Loretta McLaughlin, a reporter who works for the Record-American newspaper. McLaughlin is the first person to reveal the story of the Boston Strangler. Coon plays McLaughlin’s colleague Jean Cole.
Keira Knightley called her role in Boston Strangler an “opportunity to showcase two amazing female investigative journalists”
Hulu
Speaking about why she chose to take on the role of McLaughlin, Knightley said, “For me it was the opportunity to highlight two great female investigative journalists. This is a very famous story and these two women are largely erased from the movie world.” history of this case – even people in Boston largely don’t know who they were and what role they played in uncovering this case and even the naming of the Boston Strangler.
She continued: “Their role in this whole investigation has been completely taken away, but their tenacity, their stubbornness in trying to get justice for the women is very inspiring. It also shows how important it is to have women in positions of power, because this was a story that was largely ignored by the male establishment. It took two women to recognize what was going on and to emphasize its importance.”
Coon also praised Matt Ruskin’s (who wrote and directed the film) vision for the true crime thriller and expressed her appreciation for not exaggerating violent aspects in the film. Coon stated, “I really respect Matt for avoiding that angle – he really went out of his way to make sure the crimes happen off screen. He wasn’t in the business of delivering unnecessary violence to his audience; he wanted really that they would see that the focus of the story was on how these women warned the women of Boston when no one else did.
She added: “We hadn’t had the term serial killer for 10 years, and Loretta was doing psychological profiling at a time when it was a very unusual and progressive approach to a case. It’s just really gratifying for their families to see that their story and their involvement in this case is finally being told.”
Knightley stated: “It’s an incredible privilege to showcase the legacy of these two extraordinary women. It’s really important to see women struggle and to see that women don’t always succeed and still try. It’s the resilience that I found it incredibly inspiring. You can’t get everything right, but you can do your best to get ahead in this world. That’s what they did.”
Coon ended by saying, “They supported each other in an environment where, under certain circumstances, an editor might say, ‘We already have a wife; we don’t need another one.’ Here were two women who worked closely on a case and continued to support each other throughout their careers. So many times in storytelling women face each other. So many times in our careers we face each other. The more we can lean in that alliance, the faster things will change. We still have a long way to go, so it’s a good start.”
Boston Strangler is now available on Hulu.