Viewers were upset that Evan Peters won a Golden Globe for portraying serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in a controversial Netflix true crime series.
Peters won Best Actor in a Short Film, Anthology Series, or Television Movie for his role in Ryan Murphy’s show Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
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Dahmer has earned his place as one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, murdering 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
The series received mixed critical response, and also a backlash from the families of some Dahmer victims, which they perceived as an insensitive approach to the issue.
Eric Perry, a relative of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, said the show had effectively “re-traumatized” families, adding: “I want people to understand that this isn’t just a story or historical fact, these are real people’s lives.”
Peters took the stage to receive her award at the Beverly Hilton Tuesday night and thanked viewers for making the series one of Netflix’s biggest hits of recent times.
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“Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who watched the show. It was a hard show to make and watch, but I sincerely hope something good came out of it.”
Audiences of the Golden Globes ceremony were not particularly impressed, noting that Peters made no mention of Dahmer’s victims in his speech.
The experience of playing Dahmer clearly had an impact on Peters, who told Variety in December that he plans to “take a break from darker roles and explore the light” after the series.
“It would be interesting for me to play something a little closer to home, a little more casual, and explore the details of such experiences.”
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In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Will Ferrell and John C Reilly explained that the comedy Step Brothers helped him de-stress after filming.
Following the success of the Dahmer series, Netflix revamped the “Monster” series as an anthology and added two more seasons based on “other monster figures.”
Watch: Trailer of Jeffrey Dahmer starring Evan Peters on Netflix