How Elizabeth Olsen Got In Candy Montgomery's Head For Love And Death
The story, nay, the legend of Candy Montgomery is one that has become synonymous with Texas true crime. What seems like a case of jealous rage on the surface is more complex the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, so it's no surprise that Montgomery's tale has become the latest subject of the true-crime dramatization trend. Hulu's Jessica Biel vehicle "Candy" may have gotten the head start, but HBO Max's "Love & Death" (read /Film's review here) is aspiring to define the case through the eyes of Elizabeth Olsen.
So, how exactly did Olsen try and get into the mindset of an axe murderer? Well, according to the actor, she approached Candy Montgomery as an ordinary and otherwise complex human being. During a currently-archived SXSW Film & TV Festival live stream, Olsen explained that she decided to approach the fictionalized version of Montgomery with an open mind.
"What good does it do a society to just judge people's actions without trying to understand the rest?" Olsen posited (via MovieWeb). "So, no, I never go in with judgment but with lots of empathy. She was a real dreamer, a real optimist."
'You think of the circumstances that led people to that point'
That might not be the answer many might have expected given the case's notoriety, but she does make a compelling case. Montgomery wasn't a repeat offender or perverted serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy, even if that doesn't make her a good person worth defending. It does, however, allow for programs like "Love & Death" to potentially explore the nuanced emotions of these one-off killers, in addition to their victims. That's the idea that Elizabeth Olsen was apparently going for when approaching how to portray Montgomery:
"You think of the circumstances that led people to that point. You think of their upbringing. You think of their dreams and their wishes and the resources that they have at the moment these things occur, which seem pretty absurd."
Considering "Love & Death" looks to be as equally interested in the inner workings of Montgomery's victim Betty Gore (Lily Rabe) as it is in Montgomery herself, this introspective balance could be the thing that sets this limited true crime series apart from the rest. This all-encompassing approach is what drew Olsen to the project, particularly how it explores the far-reaching consequences of the axe murderer's actions. Sure, there have been plenty of miniseries that have focused on small towns being rocked by horrific crimes, but few have ever made these towns feel like real characters or places. Here's to hoping this is the case with "Love & Death," which is now streaming on HBO Max.