Woman of the Hour dramatizes serial killer Rodney Alcala’s infamous appearance on The Dating Game, and director Anna Kendrick made sure to include one eerie detail from the actual footage.
Kendrick also stars in the new movie as Cheryl, a young woman who makes an appearance on the dating show to counter her floundering acting career. While on the show, one of the contestants is the charming Rodney Alcala – a real life serial killer suspected of murdering up to 130 people.
The true story behind Alcala’s crimes is even worse than you can imagine, and Woman of the Hour includes the most haunting details. Including, of course, Alcala’s night on the show.
When asked about what she took away from watching the real Dating Game episode, Kendrick revealed she wanted to pay special attention to one troubling aspect: Alcala’s unassuming nature.
WOMAN OF THE HOUR, one of the best movies of the year, tells the true story of the infamous “Dating Game Killer.”I spoke with star and director @AnnaKendrick47 about the chilling real-life footage from that episode of “The Dating Game.” pic.twitter.com/sVQcpD7xKB
— Jake Hamilton (@JakesTakes) October 15, 2024
“One thing I remember thinking the second I saw this footage is how boyish Rodney seemed,” she explained [via Jake’s Takes].
“There was a real childlike quality, and you could see how disarming that would be. You can see when he gets that first laugh, and you can see this in the movie a little bit, there’s this delight that flashes across his face for a split second.
“I think that really speaks to how difficult it is to know if you’re in the presence of someone predatory. The clips that are online are fascinating, but the episode in its entirety appears to have been lost to time.
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“So it was really fun to take that vacuum and use it as an opportunity to do this thing we do where Cheryl goes off the rails a bit. As the viewer, you know it’s getting her closer and closer to danger, so it’s a kind of fantasy section of the film that’s emotionally really complicated for the viewer.”
Indeed, the episode of The Dating Game doesn’t appear to exist in full, though you can find compilation clips online that give an idea of how it played out, like the one below:
In reality, Cheryl never went on her date with Alcala, despite selecting him as the winner. They two were introduced, but Cheryl called up the contestant coordinator the next day and asked if she could reject the date, dubbing Alcala as “creepy.”
It was a move that likely saved her life, as Alcala continued his killing spree until 1979, when he was arrested and convicted of murder. All in all, he was convicted for seven murders total, and remained in prison until his death at age 77.
Woman of the Hour is available to stream on Netflix now.
For more, find out why Woman of the Hour has the scariest scene of 2024. You can also learn more about where to watch the Rodney Alcala documentary, and take a look at all the new true crime shows out this month.