“Serial killers are very easy to play”- Dennis Quaid reveals the work behind his character in Happy Face
Dennis Quaid is stepping into the shoes of Keith Hunter Jesperson in the upcoming series Happy Face. Jesperson, known as the Happy Face Killer, was a real-life serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the 1990s as reported by People.
The series premieres on Paramount+ on March 20, 2025, with eight episodes dropping weekly after a two-episode start. It’s a chilling dive into a dark true-crime story, blending reality with drama.
Quaid shared his thoughts during an interview with Entertainment Tonight on March 17, 2025, while on the Happy Face set. They discussed his approach to playing Jesperson, and he dropped a line:
“Serial killers are very easy to play.”
Dennis Quaid explained this by pointing to the clear-cut nature of such roles—his past work, like in The Substance, shows he’s drawn to intense characters where emotions and motives are straightforward.
He hasn’t played a serial killer before, but Quaid’s tackled complex roles in films like The Right Stuff and Lawmen: Bass Reeves. In Happy Face, he’s Jesperson—an incarcerated killer forcing his way back into his daughter Melissa’s life.
“I had to think about this one for a long time,” Dennis Quaid said about taking the role
The interview happened on March 17, 2025, on the Happy Face set in Vancouver, Canada, with Entertainment Tonight as the media outlet. Dennis Quaid opened up about his hesitation, saying
“I had to think about this one for a long time,”
that Jesperson is still alive and serving life in prison. He didn’t want to glorify the killer, who craved attention. But the story—focusing on Jesperson’s daughter Melissa, played by Annaleigh Ashford—pulled him in.
“What drew me to it was the relationship between his daughter and himself,” he noted.
He also hinted at the role’s simplicity, saying killers like Jesperson have a directness that makes them easier to portray than heroic figures. In Happy Face, Dennis Quaid plays Keith Hunter Jesperson, a truck driver turned murderer who contacts Melissa after decades, sparking her quest to uncover if an innocent man faces execution for his crimes.
The series, produced by CBS Studios, mixes real events with fiction, premiering March 20, 2025, on Paramount+.
The Story of Keith Hunter Jesperson
Keith Hunter Jesperson, born on April 6, 1955, in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, grew up in a rather stormy situation, dropped out of high school, and eventually came to become a truck driver. In 1975, he married Rose Hucke, with whom he had three children, Melissa, Carrie, and Jason, before divorcing in 1990.
His killing spree began that year when he strangled Taunja Bennett in Oregon after an argument. Over five years, he murdered a minimum of eight women across the states, often preying on such vulnerable individuals as s*x workers.
He earned the Happy Face Killer name by drawing smiley faces on letters confessing his crimes to police and media. In 1995, he got caught after murdering Julie Winningham—his girlfriend—and confessing via letters. Convicted in 1998, he received multiple life sentences without parole. Today, he’s at Oregon State Penitentiary.
Featuring Dennis Quaid as Keith Hunter Jesperson, Happy Face Will be released on March 20, 2025, on Paramount+.
