Is it just me, or is there a new true crime series available to stream at least once every week? Not that I am complaining, of course, as I never turn away from the opportunity to watch a good, well-acted drama that also offers a lesson in one of the most shocking criminal cases that the world of has ever seen. Thus, it should come as no surprise that I have been looking forward to watching Candy on Hulu since I first heard about it.
The five-part limited series reveals the disturbing story of Candy Montgomery - a seemingly ordinary and kindhearted suburban housewife from Texas who was convicted of murdering her best friend with an axe in 1980. When the TV show from co-creators Robin Veith and Nick Antosca was first announced, Elizabeth Moss was in talks to play the titular, based-on-real-life character. See who ended up landing the title role in the end, as well as who else makes up the main Candy cast, in the following breakdown of who plays whom and where you may have seen each of the actors before.
Jessica Biel (Candy Montgomery)
Playing the real-life unlikely killer, Candy Montgomery, is Jessica Biel, who previously played an unlikely fictional killer in Season 1 of The Sinner and once outran a power tool-wielding killer in a very loosely based on fact horror movie, 2003's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The actress (and spouse to Justin Timberlake) quickly found popularity as a teenager in the mid-1990s with her breakout role as Mary Camden in the 7th Heaven cast, which led to roles in movies like Disney’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas, early-2000s rom-coms The Rules of Attraction and Summer Catch, and action flicks like Blade: Trinity, Stealth, and Next.
More comedies (such as Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve), thrillers (such as remakes of The A-Team and Total Recall), and also more grounded dramas (like Powder Blue and the 2012 biopic, Hitchcock) would come her way before her Emmy-nominated return to TV with the aforementioned The Sinner and the short-lived Facebook Watch original adaptation of the hit podcast drama, Limetown. Some of Biel’s other most noteworthy credits as of late have been voice acting roles - including as various characters on Amazon Prime’s Pete the Cat and as herself on several episodes of Bojack Horseman, and one edition of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? in 2021.
Melanie Lynskey (Betty Gore)
Playing Candy Montgomery’s best friend-turned-victim, Betty Gore, is Melanie Lynskey, who actually made her acting debut in the 1994 true crime classic Heavenly Creatures from director Peter Jackson, with whom she reunited for a small part in The Frighteners two years later. She later played one of Drew Barrymore’s wicked stepsisters in Ever After, a young woman sent to a conversion camp in But I’m a Cheerleader, a journalist in Shattered Glass, and more before joining the Two and a Half Men cast as Rose.
The New Zealand native (and spouse to Jason Ritter) is also known for Oscar nominated films like Up in the Air, more coming-of-age dramas like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and horror anthologies of the big screen (2017’s XX) and small screen variety (Hulu’s Castle Rock Season 1). Lynskey more recently earned acclaimed in Netflix’s Don’t Look Up cast as the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character and in Showtime’s Yellowjackets cast as Shauna.
Pablo Schreiber (Allan Gore)
As Betty Gore’s husband, Allan - whom Candy Montgomery also had a secret affair with - we have Pablo Schreiber, whose previous experience playing real people includes photojournalist Craig Stecyk in Lords of Dogtown and astronaut James Lovell in First Man. His best known role in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black cast as George “Pornstache” Mendez is not actually based on any specific real-life person, but is likely inspired by prison guards Piper Kerman, whose memoir inspired the show, probably encountered while incarcerated.
After debuting in 2001’s Bubble Boy, he joined HBO’s The Wire cast and went on to star in political thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate (opposite his half-brother, Liev Schreiber) and Michael Bay’s 13 Hours, white knuckle action flicks like Skyscraper opposite Dwayne Johnson and Den of Thieves with Gerard Butler, and dramas like Lorelei in 2020. Some of his other notable TV credits include playing a leprechaun on American Gods, a prosecuting attorney in Apple TV+’s Defending Jacob, and leading Paramount+’s Halo cast as Master Chief.
Timothy Simons (Pat Montgomery)
As Candy Montgomery’s husband, Pat, we have Timothy Simons, whose breakout role as Jonah Ryan in HBO’s Veep cast led to an enduringly successful career that includes films like Draft Day with Kevin Costner, Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Inherent Vice, and the Disney animated hit Ralph Break the Internet, for which he provided the voice of Butcher Boy. He also played a cop in the 2015 Goosebumps movie, a weatherman in the bleak biopic Christine, a priest in 2019’s feature-length remake of the short satire Yes, God, Yes, and a mall security guard in Hulu’s Happiest Season cast in 2020.
He was also in Hulu’s series adaptation of John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska, has leant his voice to two TV shows based on comic books (namely Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Big Hero 6: The Series), and started voicing Drew Pickles (Angelica’s dad) on Paramouont+’s Rugrats reboot more recently. Simons also appeared on HBO Max’s Station Eleven, in Disney+’s Home Sweet Home Alone, and will next be seen in the thriller, Don’t Worry Darling, from director Olivia Wilde.
Raúl Esparza (Don Crowder)
Playing Candy Montgomery’s defense attorney, Don Crowder, is Raúl Esparza, who also made his feature film debut in the fact-based legal drama Find Me Guilty in 2006 and has additionally played a lawyer named Rafael Barba on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 2012. He also might have shared a few scenes with Jessica Biel previously on Netflix’s Bojack Horseman when voicing his recurring character - a mouse named Ralph Stilton.
He has also played a killer in Wes Craven’s final film, My Soul to Take, was in the Hannibal cast as an administrator in a hospital for the criminally insane, and played a theologist on the Hulu original series, The Path. He also had a role in the Dopesick cast as the husband of Rosario Dawson’s DEA agent character and voiced a Mexican rancher named Moreno in 2017’s animated hit, Ferdinand.
Learn about the true, shocking events surrounding Betty Gore’s murder on Candy - streaming on Hulu as of Monday, May 9.
