Jason Clarke enjoyed 'disappearing' into Alex Murdaugh in 'Death in the Family,' even if it hurt

This nonfiction contains spoilers for the finale of “Murdaugh: Death successful the Family.”

Jason Clarke insists he’s not a method actor, but to instrumentality connected the relation of Alex Murdaugh, helium became truthful immersed successful the satellite of the disgraced lawyer and convicted slayer that helium often dreamed astir him.

The relation of Alex successful Hulu’s “Murdaugh: Death successful the Family” demanded a batch of Clarke — mastery of a South Carolinian accent, adoption of Southern charm, important value summation and the affectional stamina to pat into the psyche of a antheral who killed his woman and child.

Clarke reveled successful the challenge. “Like a Sherlock Holmes sleuth,” helium said, “you’ve got to ace it.”

That meant Clarke spent hours reasoning astir Alex’s position connected the crumbling of his family’s ineligible dynasty, the investigations into his finances, the murders of his woman Maggie and lad Paul, and his eventual trial.

“It conscionable started to beryllium wrong me,” helium said connected a Zoom telephone from New York successful October. As Clarke was processing his mentation of Alex, his extended enactment led him “to imagination astir it, to deliberation astir it, to warrant him, to perceive to that tribunal case, to reason his mode retired of it, to find the mistakes oregon the injustices that helium suffered successful the proceedings that I thought I heard oregon saw.”

His dreams chiefly revolved astir the proceedings — arguments betwixt Alex and his ineligible team, grounds that was contested and Alex’s fixation connected justification for his actions.

“Murdaugh: Death successful the Family,” which released its finale Wednesday, dramatizes the years-long mysteries surrounding the family, including a deadly vessel crash, the abrupt decease of the family’s housekeeper, superior fiscal crimes and the murders of Maggie and Paul. Co-starring with Clarke are Patricia Arquette arsenic Maggie, Johnny Berchtold arsenic Paul and Will Harrison arsenic Alex’s eldest son, Buster.

Beyond the affectional quality enactment Clarke did, which included studying the recordings of the trial, speechmaking books connected psychology, and moving with dialect manager Tim Monich, Clarke underwent a carnal translation to go Alex. He gained astir 40 pounds, wore a wig and dyed his eyebrows since helium did not privation to trust connected prosthetics. The physicality of the quality helped everything click into place.

Clarke spent months preparing to play the disgraced Murdaugh household patriarch.

(Rick Wenner / For The Times)

“I’m not a method actor, but you’re allowing it to creep into you, you cognize what I mean? You’re allowing yourself to creep into it,” helium said. “All of a sudden, you go the reflection you see, with the lenses on, with the hair, with the makeup, with the weight, the suit, with the clothes, that each of a sudden, bent on. I americium what I am. And there’s obscurity I won’t oregon can’t go.”

Clarke is nary alien to playing characters based connected real-life radical — helium portrayed Sen. Ted Kennedy successful the 2017 movie “Chappaquiddick,” Lakers wide manager Jerry West successful the HBO bid “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” mountaineer Rob Hall successful 2015’s “Everest” and lawyer Roger Robb successful 2023’s “Oppenheimer” to sanction a few.

Series co-creator and showrunner Michael D. Fuller said Clarke’s show successful “Oppenheimer” showed him Clarke could propulsion disconnected the challenging role. Although the characters are precise different, Fuller said helium saw the “physicality, the confidence, the masculinity” required to play Alex successful that performance. And Fuller’s hunch proved close — astatine slightest successful the eyes of Mandy Matney, the writer whose podcast provided root worldly for the bid and who was an enforcement shaper connected it. According to co-creator Erin Lee Carr, Matney “would get a chill successful her assemblage due to the fact that she felt similar she was looking astatine and talking to Alex Murdaugh.”

“He’s conscionable 1 of our champion surviving actors,” Fuller said. “There’s ever thing quality astir him, there’s ever thing assured astir him, and past determination tin beryllium thing scary astir him. That’s wherefore I deliberation helium was singular for this part.”

The series’ finale was the eventual trial of Clarke’s skills. It follows the theatrics of Alex’s proceedings and depicts the afloat series wherever Maggie and Paul are murdered. Their murders were archetypal depicted successful an earlier episode, but the assemblage doesn’t spot the slayer successful that instance. However, successful the finale, Alex is depicted arsenic the perpetrator.

In the courtroom scenes, overmuch of Clarke’s dialog is lifted straight from tribunal transcripts. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave,” Alex says successful effect to the authoritative questioning wherefore helium lied astir his whereabouts connected the nighttime of the murders.

That line, Fuller said, is “on the nose, but it’s besides spot-on.” Striking a equilibrium betwixt what statements Alex and others made and taking originative licence was each astir “finding those small breadcrumbs that springiness it that consciousness of world and authenticity.”

Clarke said helium poured implicit recordings of the trial, listening to them archetypal earlier helium watched the videos, partially arsenic a mode to nail down the specificities of Alex’s accent and cadence. Re-creating moments shown oregon discussed successful documentaries, podcasts and successful the frenzy of quality sum astir the lawsuit felt similar an important portion of the dramatization for Clarke. If helium looked similar Alex and talked similar Alex and immoderate of the astir memorable moments were word-perfect, “then the remainder of what we physique volition person overmuch much authenticity and believability,” Clarke said.

The moments that haven’t been documented — what household beingness looked similar wrong the Murdaugh home, what Maggie and Alex’s matrimony was similar down closed doors and what precisely happened connected the nighttime of the murders — are wherever Clarke, the formed and the writers needed to trust connected the spot they had built with the audience.

A methodical, yet simplistic attack to filming the execution series successful the finale was important to some Clarke and the co-creators. Fuller said connected the 2 nights they spent filming that scene, the formed and unit took a infinitesimal to admit the real-life victims and the lawsuit they were astir to dramatize and guarantee they were “treating it with the reverence and sensitivity it requires.”

As Alex is shown carrying retired the murders, helium acts rapidly and surely, and his look is astir emotionless.

“You don’t privation to bash things that don’t request to beryllium done due to the fact that you undermine the remainder of it,” Clarke said. “There’s a coldness to what happened. It was the enactment itself.”

Clarke said shooting that country was “not thing you privation to bash excessively galore times.” What seems to person struck him the hardest, particularly arsenic a begetter of 2 sons, was that Murdaugh didn’t “have to beryllium filled with hatred oregon anger” to termination his household members. In the series, Paul gets a glimpse of Alex conscionable earlier helium deals the last blow, which is simply a infinitesimal that Clarke wanted to emphasize. “That’s the afloat horror,” helium said.

Although Clarke knew overmuch of his enactment connected the bid would beryllium heavy, helium besides knew that “the remainder of it was fun,” helium said. “There’s a batch of joyousness and amusive and games and amusement and lunacy.”

(Rick Wenner / For The Times)

The histrion referenced his enactment connected the 2019 fearfulness movie “Pet Sematary,” successful which helium plays a begetter whose girl is killed (and past resurrected with a new, disturbing demeanor), saying those types of roles person go progressively challenging to perform. Clarke said, “I don’t cognize however overmuch much of that I tin do.”

The last moments of the bid amusement Alex unsocial successful his cell, catching a glimpse of his reflection aft joking with (and swindling) a chap inmate. When helium sees himself, his reflection appears successful the bluish raincoat helium wore erstwhile helium killed Maggie and Paul. It’s a notation to “The Man successful the Glass” poem — which the real-life Murdaughs had framed successful their location — astir idiosyncratic integrity and accountability.

“The lone idiosyncratic helium cannot prevarication to is himself erstwhile he’s alone,” Carr said.

That infinitesimal was initially conceived arsenic thing overmuch much emotional, Fuller said, but Clarke pushed backmost connected that, favoring a much ambiguous look connected his face. He wanted the assemblage to construe that infinitesimal connected their own, and Fuller agreed.

“We’re not going to bent a lantern connected precisely what he’s feeling here,” Fuller said. “He’s inactive alive, he’s inactive successful that situation cell, some successful existent beingness and successful our story.”

After filming wrapped, Clarke took a formation abrogation with his sons and his woman (their travel was overmuch much relaxing than Murdaugh’s flight to the Caribbean depicted successful the series). He inactive had reddish eyebrows, helium was inactive heavier than accustomed from the sprout and helium was “still a spot sensitive,” helium said. But eventually, helium dropped the weight, his eyebrows returned to their earthy shadiness and helium was capable to pat backmost into the amusive helium had connected acceptable erstwhile helium needed to re-record dialog and enactment the finishing touches connected the series. He was capable to admit playing to Alex’s swagger and charm and embracing the collaborative tone of the set.

“As overmuch arsenic it hurt, it was enjoyable, and I’d beryllium dishonest to accidental otherwise,” helium said. “I enjoyed disappearing.”

There’s inactive immoderate parts of Alex helium can’t rather look to shingle yet, though, arsenic evidenced by however easy he’s capable to swap his Australian accent for a chiseled Lowcountry drawl implicit the people of the conversation.

“I inactive emotion that accent. “I emotion ‘bo,’” helium said of the South Carolinian equivalent of “mate.” “I inactive find myself calling radical bo, they conscionable don’t get it. Australians don’t get it.”