Why Dennis Quaid Didn’t Meet with Real Happy Face Killer for New Show (Exclusive)

Dennis Quaid is starring in “Happy Face” as Keith Jesperson, who went on a 5-year murder spree, killing at least eight women while taunting police with disturbing letters, all signed with a happy face.

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Dennis about telling the wild an unsettling true story behind one of America’s notorious serial killers.

Melissa Moore, the real Happy Face killer’s daughter, executive produced the new series, which is based off her 2009 autobiography "Shattered Silence" and hit true crime podcast "Happy Face Presents: Two Face." She’s portrayed in the show by Annaleigh Ashford.

Dennis explained why he didn’t meet with Jesperson, saying, “I would have just gotten a bunch of sh*t.” He added, "Melissa wrote a book. That’s her father. She knows him better than I think he knows himself, really.”

Quaid found it easy to play Jesperson, saying, “Serial killers don’t have emotions… There was nothing I really had to reach for emotionally. If anything, it was about taking the emotion out of it.”

To prepare for the role, Dennis watched videotapes of Jesperson, noting, “There’s this distance, there’s this kind of like it was another person who did it, and he just wants things with his daughter or whatever to be like it was and doesn't understand it from that point of view."

Dennis emphasized, “What makes our story unique is that from any other true crime thing that I’ve ever seen is that she had a loving relationship, a sweet relationship with her dad. From a little girl’s point of view, you know, idolized her dad and then at 15, he got caught. She found out he was the serial killer, he killed eight women in 5 years in the ’90s, so how do you reconcile that?”

From speaking with Melissa, Dennis understood the task at hand: "The attention is put on the victims, to shine a light on what they’ve been through, what they put up with and, you know, their memory and what the people like him, the devastation that they bring."

Dennis reflected, "You know, when a murder is committed like this, it's not just the victim. It's the victims' families, their friends, and the killers' families as well. It wrecks so much."

"Extra" also spoke to Melissa, who shared the emotions this project has brought up almost 30 years exactly since her father’s arrest.

She said, “This has been really a time of reflection. I still have work on talking to my children and it’s not comfortable, for sure. I think now I understand why my mom didn’t want to have the tough conversations because they’re just absolutely uncomfortable.”

Melissa also said that Dennis accurately captured her father's narcissism.

"I felt that Dennis Quad did an excellent job of portraying the manipulation," she said. "My father, he's is 6'6", you know, 300 lbs., but for me and how my father intimidated me was through manipulation. He knew my vulnerability... and then just went I start to trust, he betrays my trust."