‘Based on a True Story’ Star Tom Bateman on Playing a Satirical Serial Killer: “It Does Bring Up a Moral Dilemma”
[This story contains spoilers from the finale of Based on a True Story.]
In Based on a True Story, Tom Bateman gets mysterious. In the Peacock dark comedy, the Death on the Nile actor plays a serial killer — a satirical version of one, but a serial killer, nonetheless.
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“To be playing someone who does these terrible things is interesting because it does bring up a moral dilemma,” Bateman tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But I felt [that] it swung so big in such a comedic way that it kind of allowed for a lightness of touch and a sort of parody to it.”
In the show, Bateman plays Matt, also known as the Westside Ripper, a fictional serial killer in Los Angeles. When struggling married couple Ave (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Chris Messina) discover Matt’s secret, they coerce him into doing their bidding — that is, to be a guest on their million-dollar idea for a true-crime podcast.
“There were almost no rules for me on set,” Bateman adds about the role. “[The character] is very unpredictable, volatile; charming one second, terrifying another. You think, who is this guy? That sort of gave me free rein to do anything.”
The British actor, who puts on an American accent in the show, notes that the project was his first major TV series in America. “I’ve never really done one like this,” he said. Bateman added that he especially loved working on the Universal Studios lot. “To drive through those gates every morning and see those sets — you know, they made Psycho there and Jurassic Park there. It was a sort of pinch-me moment. I never really got over it at all, actually, even my last day.”
Created by Craig Rosenberg, Based on a True Story is executive produced by Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan’s Aggregate Films. Read on for Bateman’s conversation with THR below.
What goes through your mind when you find out you are going to play a serial killer?
That’s a really good question. Part of me was a little bit nervous. There’s a lot of these serial killer things out there. There’s clearly an appetite for it, for better or for worse. To be playing someone who does these terrible things is interesting because it does bring up a moral dilemma, I suppose, as an artist, what you’re lending your face to. But I felt [that] it swung so big in such a comedic way that it kind of allowed for a lightness of touch and a sort of parody to it.
I felt it looked more at people’s obsession with true crime. What is it that titillates us? And I feel that instead of trying to say anything too much, that it actually asked questions a bit more and sort of probed at the audience. So that made me feel a little bit more excited. And then selfishly, as an actor, I just thought, “God, he’s got some of the best lines.” He’s just a really cool character and being able to play that dual element to him, I wanted to push that as far as I could. This guy wears a mask with everyone. He’s constantly flipping between states and energies, depending on who he’s talking to. I just relish the opportunity to play a character like that, regardless of the fact that he’s a murderer.
What did you think when you read the script for the first time?
When I first read it, I thought, “This thing is so out of the box.” I haven’t really ever seen or read anything like this, which is very rare in the world that we’re in where there’s so much stuff getting made. I never knew what he was going to do next. What’s exciting as an actor was, I could kind of do anything in the writing in the situation. And because of that very dark comedic element that was underlining everything, there were almost no rules for me on set. On other things. I’ll play a note or an idea, and think, “Oh, that wasn’t quite right. That doesn’t quite work here.” On this show, anything I did, I thought, “Yeah, that kind of tracks.” because he’s very unpredictable, volatile; charming one second, terrifying another. He has these crazy ideas. You think, who is this guy? That sort of gave me free rein to do anything.
You share a lot of your scenes with Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina — the first diner scene with all of you together comes to mind. What were those days on set like?
The best. And terrifying. I honestly don’t know how we got through this show because we just laughed so much. There was a phrase we came up with, which was “unusable magic.” Just trying to make each other laugh the whole time. And it was my first big TV series out in America, I’ve never really done one like this. My perception of it was that it would be quite a lot of creatives and almost acting by numbers, like there’s so many bits involved. But they were so cool and open to us going nuts and just improving all over the place.
I think when you’ve got Kaley, who is the best at what she does; no one does what Kaley does. And Chris is just incredible and amazing and such a hard worker. The three of us together understood the show quite quickly, and very quickly got on despite the fact that we’re very, very different people. I’m this guy from London, and then you got Chris, who’s this sort of very serious, intense, beautiful actor. And then Kaley, who can just do anything and make it believable. But in that there was this kind of magic in the middle of us that was just so fun. My favorite days were when I saw me, Kaley and Chris in a scene. I never wanted them to end.
That’s awesome. And when would you get the scripts for each episode?
I think we got two or three episodes or something before we started shooting. But they were pretty good with us. I mean, Craig was amazing. He was showrunning and writing it and then towards the end, editing it, as well, at the same time. But he intended to give us at least a week before we started shooting an episode where we get to read it, digest it, ask him questions. There were days where me and Chris and Craig would just have a Zoom on our days off, and talk about the scene and and work it together. I would get a text at 11 o’clock at night, and Craig would just say. “I’ve just sent you the new episode.”
You mentioned your many great lines in this show. Do you have a favorite that comes to mind?
Oh, my god. No, I don’t think I do. I remember the [first diner scene with Chris], I think that was a really fun scene. I remember reading it, thinking, “Great, I know where this scene is gonna go.” Then suddenly, I’m giving a speech about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But really, that’s like asking what your favorite chocolate is, you know? I had so many wonderful, hilarious bizarre lines in it. It’s hard to pick.
Your character also loves throwing darts. Is that actually you throwing?
You know what, it is. By the way, I’m not a great darts player at all. I think I just got freakishly lucky, and we had a whole day to do it, so we got better and better throughout the day. But occasionally we hear that we’ve hit a few. I’m pretty sure when it’s the close up of the dartboard and you see it hitting the bull’s eye, that wasn’t me. But there were a couple where I’d throw and sort of hit a bull’s eye, and my instinct was to completely break character and scream at Chris, “Did you see that?”
As someone from Los Angeles, I think you nailed the L.A. accent. Did you have any tricks to get into character for that?
I just have the most amazing dialect coach. He’s called Ron Carlos. He’s incredible; a wonderful man. And it’s difficult, you know, the thing of Brits playing Americans or Australians being American. I really wanted to do it justice. I’m really happy to hear that you felt it was okay. It was actually a really amazing experience because Ron and I worked so, so hard. I said to him, “I just really want to nail this and get this right.” And my character speaks a lot, so it was a very helpful session for me to also drill lines and get very comfortable with the dialogue.
But he gave me this amazing exercise, and one of the things he said was, “Tom, your voice sits very far forward as an English person. As Americans, particularly in L.A., it sits quite far back into the throat.” So we did these exercises, and that’s actually where I started to discover this voice for the character. There was a sort of relaxed, sinister energy to it that I really liked. And I said to Ron, “God, I might try using that.” Not to that extreme because we were doing this bizarre voice exercise where I sounded like Kermit the Frog, but dial it back a little bit. And there was this sort of sweet space where I would warm up with Ron in the morning in my trailer and get into that place. That’s where I started to find the character.
What was it like to shoot on location all around L.A.?
One of the selfish reasons I really wanted to do the show was filming in LA. We were spoiled. They put money behind it, so we’ve got these amazing locations. We filmed a lot of the Universal lot, a lot of the interiors and the sets they built there. To drive through those gates every morning and see those sets — you know, they made Psycho and Jurassic Park there. It was a sort of pinch-me moment. I never really got over it, even my last day, leaving the set when we wrapped. I thought, “My God, I’ve just spent the last few months on the Universal lot. This is like a working museum.” There’s so much history here that I never thought I’d be fortunate enough to get to be a part of.
The finale episode is nuts, as Matt has now brought Ava and Nathan into his crimes. As an actor, what did you make of that?
Well, I loved it, because I think that it works for the character. He can feel Ava and Nathan kind of pulling away and being a bit scared, repulsed; and like they’re losing control. And so the only way to do that is to basically make them complicit in these murders and make them have to deal with it. I thought it was a really smart move. And it’s something that, should the show go for season two, it’s a very interesting route to carry on down because you can’t just repeat the same thing.
Season one sets it up quite nicely. I think this kind of ridiculous concept — I mean, this is a totally preposterous situation. And, ironically called Based on a True Story, it’s so far-fetched. But I think it worked its way way out into, “Okay, we believe this.” But you can’t just then repeat that. You’re going to need to go either deeper or further or crazier. I hope that it asks questions instead of states answers and commenting on society. And in doing that, I think we just need to ask more: How far can you push these innocent people, who are benefiting off this murderer? You’re going to have to literally do what he does. Are you willing to do that? And if you are willing to do that, what does that say about you as a person? What does it do to you to literally have the blood of your friends on your hands? I’d love to see where that goes.
It’s such a cliffhanger.
I liked it because it didn’t feel like a cliffhanger for the sake of a cliffhanger. It felt like a cliffhanger of “Oh God, what are you going to do?” Now you’ve got yourself into this mess. You’ve made a deal with the devil and now it’s time to pay the tab. What’s going to happen?
Where would you like to see Matt go if there is another season?
I’d love to know what makes him tick a little bit more. Craig and I talked a lot before we started shooting about who this guy is, where he comes from. In the podcast [on the show], we start to hear about the [first person he killed], but it was a creative decision to keep this guy quite mysterious. I think it will be quite fun to explore him a little bit more. Who is he?
Let’s see him at home with his kid. When did he start killing people? Why did he start killing people? I’d also love to see him get into some hot water, because the fun thing about playing Matt was there were almost no stakes because he was constantly two steps ahead of everyone. He had a very sort of low heart rate. He’s cool, calm and collected. I think it would also be quite fun to put some fire under his feet and see what happens to a serial killer if you back him into a corner and give him no way out. What does he do?
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Based on a True Story is streaming on Peacock.
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