This ‘Mindhunter’ Actor Wanted To Kill His Mother After Being in the Show

The big picture

• Cameron Britton used method acting to portray serial killer Ed Kemper, which led him to have dark thoughts about killing his own mother.
• Britton's performance as Kemper is terrifying as he switches effortlessly between regular guy and dead-eyed killer.
• Mindhunter
  explores criminal psychology and nature versus nurture, with Kemper's portrayal of Britton being uncannily perfect.

Cameron Britton had dark thoughts about killing his mother after preparing for the role of infamous serial killer Ed Kemper for David FincherNetflix series Mindhunteraccording to an interview with vulture. Britton attributes the disturbing thoughts to his use of method acting when preparing for the role of Kemper, an American serial killer convicted of murdering seven women and a girl between May 1972 and April 1973. The acting method, also known as The Method, is a style. essay that seeks to foster heartfelt and expressive performances by identifying, understanding, and experiencing a character's inner motivation and emotions. Britton is terrifying as Kemper, who switches effortlessly between friendly regular guy and dead-eyed killer, effectively confusing. Jonathan GroffThe character of Holden, who finds it difficult to square Kemper's crimes with his personality.

Who is serial killer Ed Kemper?

Edmund Emil Kemper was a famous American serial killer. Between May 1972 and April 1973, the 6'9'' monster (and still very much alive) murdered seven women and a little girl. But these were not his only victims. At age 15, he murdered his maternal grandmother by shooting her in the head at the kitchen table. Kemper's actions were considered by the court so incomprehensible that they attributed his actions to the psychiatric disorder of paranoid schizophrenia. He was sentenced to a psychiatric hospital where he would be treated.

But here's the scary part. While in the California Juvenile Authority, doctors disagreed with the court's findings that young Ed was a person diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, according to Peter Vronsky in his book. Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters. Both psychiatrists and social workers agreed that Kemper had “no flight of ideas, no interference with thinking, no expression of delusions or hallucinations, and no evidence of strange thinking.” However, they saw him as a thoughtful and intelligent young man. In terms of his work ethic, he was considered a diligent worker who took pride in his work, atypical of people diagnosed with his condition. Kemper aged out of the system at 21 and was released back into the world, where he would commit more heinous murdersa diabolical work of which he was very proud.

Cameron Britton is the perfect Ed Kemper in 'Mindhunter'.

Director David Fincher Mindhunter is a one-of-a-kind show that explores the early days of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit. In those days, as Holden points out, criminals of all kinds were considered to be born that way. Holden and Holt think differently, believing that nurture, or perhaps the lack of it, produces criminality rather than nature. This brings the couple up against the top brass of the FBI, which leads them to Ed Kemper, played by Cameron Britton. The pair want to study Kemper, find out what makes him tick and what produced him. If they can figure it out, they unlock the key to catching a growing class of criminals who seem to kill for no reason.

Cameron Britton is just as terrifying as Kemper. His vast frame can really fill a shot, making him an imposing sight that dwarfs Holden's stature upon their first meeting. Britton is downright unsettling with his kind and gentle demeanor. He is polite, he is measured. He moves around the floor effortlessly, making small talk and sharing stories. He's the person someone might want to have a beer with or watch the game with. But his dark duality emerges when Holden presses him on the subject of his mother; his eyes dilate, and he exudes reptilian coldness. A detached, evil look that stares into his inner void of debauched madness. He speaks frankly of his crimes, enjoying them with an agonizing self-consciousness. Britton is everything a predatory, murderous serial killer should be. He's completely perfect as Kemper, and that's legitimately scary.

Cameron Britton got in touch with his dark side to play Ed Kemper in 'Mindhunter'.

Britton does exceptionally well in the role of Kemper using real-life affability which Kemper showed towards his social workers and psychiatrists as he tells Holden that the guards like him because he is polite. As a result, Kemper has the guards run over, bringing him sandwiches and coffee. What's so terrifying is that if Kemper doesn't suffer from a psychiatric disorder, then he might just be some kind of apex predator, like a wolf among sheep. Britton uses this to significant effect, and to do this he uses the actor's famous method, where the actor has to experience the internal dialogue that Kemoer has with himself.

Britton describes the process of taking on Kemper's psychology in an interview with vulture how to couple his dark, murderous thoughts with dopaminergic releases in his brain, which sent him down a sort of evil rabbit hole that essentially it made him feel good for thinking and wanting to do something so badly. The actor describes a visit from his mother as particularly chilling, as he can't shake the feeling of wanting to murder her, effectively blurring the lines between Kemper's character and the actor himself. This wouldn't be the first time the Method has corrupted an actor's psychology. The method is known to be used by actors who inevitably take things too far. Some notable examples includeDaniel Day-Lewis, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Jeremy Strongand many others

Cameron Britton's performance in Mindhunter as perhaps the horribly endearing Ed Kemper is one of those once-in-a-lifetime performances where the actor commits himself so deeply to the role that he becomes intertwined with that character forever. For Britton, this character is just a real-life serial killer. The scariest part of all of this is that Britton may be the only person who can truly understand Ed Kemper, given that he needed to descend so deeply into the cavernous and dangerous void that is the hellish mind of a prolific killer.

Mindhunter streaming on Netflix in the US

SEE NOW