See Jessica Biel Return To TV As A Real-Life Killer In Candy Trailer
Jessica Biel like you've never seen her!
On Friday, June 13, 1980 — as recalled by TV Insider — in Fairview, Texas, Candy Montgomery hacked her friend Betty Gore to death with an axe. Whether Candy initiated the attacks as coldblooded violence, Gore attacked first, or the bloody act took place while Montgomery was in a dissociative state have been points of contention for decades. What has never been in dispute from anyone — including Montgomery — is that she was the one who killed her friend. Now, Jessica Biel inhabits the role of Montgomery in the upcoming Hulu miniseries Candy.
Over the weekend, Hulu released a new trailer for Candy, starring Jessica Biel as the eponymous Candy Montgomery. The teaser is tense and suspenseful, portraying Biel as a woman using every fiber in her being to not crack her calm facade. You can watch the trailer below.
Jessica Biel is joined by Melanie Lynskey (Togetherness) as the doomed Betty Gore and Pablo Schreiber (Halo) plays Allan Gore. Timothy Simons (Veep) is Candy’s husband Pat and Raúl Esparz (Find Me Guilty) is Don Crowder. The miniseries is created by Robin Veith (Mad Men) and Nick Antosca (Chucky).
Hulu will be releasing the Jessica Biel led miniseries in an interesting format. Rather than dumping it all on the streamer at once Netflix-style or releasing one episode per week, the first episode of Candy will premiere Monday, May 9. The streamer will release one episode per day, concluding with the fifth and final episode on Friday, May 13. The release schedule is likely a combination of clever marketing and a rush to beat another streamer to the punch. On one hand, the format has the miniseries conclude on a Friday 13th, just like when Betty Gore’s death occurred.
On the other hand, Jessica Biel’s Candy is not the only miniseries based on Candy Montgomery’s story to be released this year. Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) will play Montgomery in HBO Max’s upcoming mini Love and Death. There’s no release date yet but the miniseries is expected to stream this year. It’s likely Hulu is eager to avoid competing with HBO. Joining Olsen will be Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog), Lily Rabe (Miss Stevens) as Betty Gore, and Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) as Pat Montgomery.
For followers of true crime, the story of Candy Montgomery is likely well known and the main question is what interpretation of events the Jessica Biel version of the story will follow. According to what came out in the courtroom, Candy tried and failed to initiate an affair with Betty Gore’s husband Allan. On the fateful Friday, Betty apparently confronted Candy about it, and that’s where things get murky. Montgomery’s lawyers argue that it was Gore who initially attacked their client with the axe, and that Gore’s death was the result of self defense. Regardless of who first had their hands on the axe, it was only Candy holding it in the end. Betty Gore had 41 axe wounds when her body was found, many of which were struck after Gore was unconscious. A psychiatrist who examined Montgomery claimed she was in a dissociative state during the attack, and was not responsible for her actions. She was acquitted and TV Line reports she moved out of Texas, and is currently in her 70s.
