Michael Peterson Would Have Preferred If Brad Pitt Had Played Him In HBO’s “The Staircase” Instead Of Colin Firth

There’s little doubt that come Emmy-times, Colin Firth and Toni Collette will be all up in the mix for their portrayals of Michael and Kathleen Peterson in HBO limited series The Staircase. But the real Michael Peterson, who has not seen the show, is once again irate about it and thinks that Brad Pitt would have done a better job of capturing his legendary (in his own mind) “energy” and “humor.” Which is silly if you think about it. Anybody who’s seen the documentary the show is based on knows that HBO did Michael a solid by casting Colin instead of hiring Andy Serkis to reprise his performance in The Lord of the Rings for the role. Especially considering the way Michael’s been hissing “my precious… feelings” ever since the day his wife was found crumpled up at the bottom of the couple’s staircase in a pool of her own blood. But go off, king. You’ve made a point. Brad Pitt probably should consider prestige television.

Last week after the final episode of The Staircase aired, Michael emailed Variety with his complaints about the complaints Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, the French filmmaker of The Staircase documentary, made to Vanity Fair about feeling duped by HBO Staircase showrunner Antonio Campos. Michael basically told Jean he got what he deserved, accused him of “pimping out” his family then turned around and called him a “hooker” for “selling his ass.” And now in a new email to Variety, not only is Michael, who is bisexual, complaining that “he’ll forever be known as Colin firth,” (“same” – Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy – “same”) he also says Antonio’s depiction of him is “homophobic.” And he’s threatening to sue. But first, here’s what HBO has to say about the matter.

“’The Staircase’ is a fictionalized series based on true events,” says a rep from HBO Max. “Each episode is accompanied by a disclaimer that states it is ‘a dramatization based on certain facts.’ With respect to the facts that formed the basis for the series, Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn relied on extensive source material, including first-hand accounts of the people involved in the events that took place.”

Variety pointed out to Michael that he and his case are in the public domain, and that as a public figure, he has no grounds to insist Brad Pitt stoop to doing appointment television. Michael says it’s not himself he’s worried about, it’s his children who “are innocent bystanders who years ago helped make a documentary [about me].” He’s particularly peeved that “this guy [Dane DeHaan] with bags under his eyes and I’m told that he looks like a drugged out individual” plays his son Clayton Peterson. But not as peeved as he is about Colin, who did not even bother trying to meet him. How very Gaga of him. (via IndieWire)

“I will forever be known as Colin Firth. It could be worse, I suppose,” Peterson lamented. “He’s not my favorite actor. Get Brad Pitt! But to be fair, I haven’t seen his portrayal, but I heard he got [my] voice right and [my] mannerisms. But he didn’t capture my energy or my humor.”

Peterson continued, “To me, Colin’s a great actor but I can’t think of any roles that weren’t dull as dirt that he’s ever played and that’s fine. I’m not denigrating him, but I would have thought about talking to him. He said he wanted to do it himself — make his own creature, I thought, ‘What are you talking about? I’m the real person. If you want to know what I think and feel, read my book or talk to me.’”

Well, small problem there as nobody, including a jury of his peers, believes a word that comes out of his mouth. Case in point, he said Toni portrays Kathleen as a “screaming shrew,” and that the sex scenes between her and Colin are “both wrong and salacious,” even though he hasn’t watched a minute of the show.

Peterson also announced he is taking legal action against the series.

“What I hope is that an entertainment lawyer can at least settle out of court with Antonio [Campos], Annapurna, and HBO so that my children can get the money,” Peterson summed up. “But the real goal is to stop this thing. The HBO show, the more I hear about it, is just awful. It’s just terrible. In it, my children are fighting, and totally different storylines are being made about them and that’s just wrong.”

Stop this thing? Honey that train already done left the station is chugga-chugga-chuggain’ it’s way to Emmybuzzville. And even if he was somehow able to get a few bucks for his pain and suffering, all those coins would be going his stepdaughter since he’s “been ordered to pay Caitlin Atwater, Kathleen’s biological child, $25 million in a 2007 wrongful death lawsuit.” If Michael keeps flapping his gums about The Staircase, Colin might have to consider suing him for forever being known as Michael Peterson instead of as what we should all remember him for — Meryl Streep’s 3rd baby daddy in Mamma Mia!

Pic: YouTube