See the “Woman of the Hour” cast vs. the real people who inspired their characters

Anna Kendrick's 'Dating Game' thriller is inspired by true events

Netflix's new true crime thriller Woman of the Hour might be based on a true story, but how many of the characters are actually based on real-life people?

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut charts the 1978 appearance of serial killer Rodney Alcala on The Dating Game. Alcala, who’s played by Daniel Zovatto in the film, worked as a photographer but had a much more insidious hobby as a sexual predator and serial killer. Though he was selected by that episode’s bachelorette, Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), as the winner of the actual telecast, the two never actually met up for their date in real life.

In addition to Kendrick and Zovatto’s characters, Tony Hale and Autumn Best play characters based on game show host Jim Lange and one of Alcala’s surviving victims, respectively. Matt Visser and Jedidiah Goodacre also play versions of Alcala’s real-life co-stars, portraying the other two eligible bachelors who competed on The Dating Game. Though Kendrick’s film takes certain creative liberties with its characters and incidents, you might be surprised how much of the movie is rooted in fact.

As Woman of the Hour continues to tantalize audiences with its stranger-than-fiction tale, Entertainment Weekly decided to take a closer look at the real people portrayed in the 1970s-set thriller. Read on to learn more about the Woman of the Hour cast and the inspiration for their characters.

Related: Woman of the Hour true story: The real-life serial killer behind the Anna Kendrick movie

Anna Kendrick as Sheryl Bradshaw, a.k.a. Cheryl Bradshaw

Kendrick stars as Bradshaw, a fictionalized version of contestant Cheryl Bradshaw. "Sheryl is the most fictionalized piece of the movie," Kendrick said in the film’s press notes. "There’s very little public information about the real person, so our Sheryl’s life before The Dating Game is basically an imagined version of a woman in the 1970s."

Since the episode in which Bradshaw appeared is no longer viewable in its complete version, Kendrick and the film’s crew were allowed to create a "fantasy version of what we all wish we could have said at a pivotal moment," Kendrick said in the press notes. "I loved getting to play out this fantasy of her breaking free and getting a little bit of power back during the taping of the show,” the director explained. “Because maybe for the first time in Sheryl's life, maybe she's not making herself small."

Unlike in the film, Bradshaw never met Alcala again after selecting him on The Dating Game. Producer Ellen Metzger recalled on a 20/20 episode profiling Alcala’s crimes and his television appearance that Bradshaw called her the day after the taping and told her she didn’t plan to see Alcala for their proper date. "She said, 'Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy,'" Metzger told 20/20. "'There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?’” Metzger recalled “And of course, I said, 'No.'"

Tony Hale as Ed Burke, a.k.a. Jim Lange

Hale plays Ed Burke, the lascivious host of The Dating Game, but in real life the show was MC’d by veteran game show host Jim Lange. Lange was a noted broadcaster who began his career in San Francisco radio before moving to Los Angeles, where he hosted The Dating Game in addition to Bullseye (1980-1982) and $100,000 Name That Tune (1984–1985). Though the name of Hale’s character is different, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Lange in his appearance and mannerisms. Lange died at age 81 of a heart attack at his home in Mill Valley, Calif.

On the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, Hale said that his character is supposed to represent the flippant, sexist culture of the 1970s. “He had this rhythm and cadence that really symbolized his disconnection from reality,” he explained. “[The movie] doesn’t glorify the serial killer. It’s about the victims, and that was important to me.”

Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala

Of all the real people depicted in Woman of the Hour, Alcala is the most well-known. Authorities eventually determined that when he appeared on The Dating Game, Alcala had already killed his first confirmed victim: 23-year-old airline stewardess Cornelia Crilley. In 1980, Alcala was found guilty of abducting and murdering 12-year-old Robin Samsoe. In 2010, he was prosecuted for four additional murders in New York after advances in forensic science linked his DNA to the crime scenes. The Associated Press reported that Alcala may have killed as many as 130 people in the 1970s, several of which allegedly happened before his appearance on the game show.

It Follows star Zovatto was anxious to take on the role of Alcala, as he felt it offered him new opportunities to explore his range. “It seemed like a really exciting, cool challenge to go and do with Anna, who had full trust in me,” Zovatto told PEOPLE.

Since much of Alcala’s life prior to his television appearance isn’t as well known, Zovatto told Us Weekly that he looked to the convicted killer’s photography career as an insight into the character.

“He was able to just be a chameleon and charm people and manipulate them. And for me that was the golden key to it all. I was like, ‘Oh my God, now I know who this guy is,’” he explained. “Because a lot of the information [that’s out there] is post The Dating Game when he was caught and as in the trials.”

Related: Woman of the Hour: What happened to Cheryl Bradshaw after The Dating Game?

Matt Visser as Bachelor No. 1, a.k.a Armand Cerami

Visser, a relative newcomer to the industry, played a version of Armand Cerami, who was Bachelor No. 3 on the actual Dating Game episode. (Alcala was Bachelor No. 1 in real life, but that’s been changed for the film.)

Little is known about Cerami, but in 2010, he recalled that the Dating Game audience wasn’t rooting for Alcala to win. “The people [in the audience] were actually snickering and even low-murmuring boos as to his answers,” Cerami said, according to Rolling Stone.

Jedidiah Goodacre as Bachelor No. 2, a.k.a. Jed Mills

Goodacre plays a version of Jed Mills, who was Bachelor No. 2 on the actual episode and would go on to play the owner of the fat-free yogurt shop on Seinfeld. In the 20/20 episode profiling Alcala, Mills recalled a “creepy” encounter he had with Alcala in the greenroom during the show’s taping in which the soon-to-be-convicted killer told him, “I always get my girl.”

That encounter makes its way into Woman of the Hour almost exactly as it happened, depicting a barbed backstage chat between Alcala (Zovatto) and Goodacre’s Bachelor No. 2 in which the serial killer admits he usually wins the woman he sets his sights upon. When Sheryl selects Alcala as the show’s winner, Bachelor No. 2 warns her to “be careful with that a–hole" as he departs the stage.

Autumn Best as Amy

Best plays Amy, who is an amalgamation of several of Alcala’s victims. Her character is most closely based on Monique Hoyt, who survived Alcala’s attack and went on to testify at his trial. Amy also has shades of another Alcala victim, Tali Shapiro, who was only 8 years old when Alcala abducted her on the way home from school. Shapiro also testified against Alcala as a surprise witness at his final trial. According to the film's postscript, it was her testimony that "put the nail in Alcala's coffin."

Though she’s supposed to be terrified of his character, Best found Zovatto to be a comforting presence on set. “Danny is just the nicest guy on the planet,” she told PEOPLE. “He's so friendly and warm and supportive.” Woman of the Hour is Best’s film debut, and Zovatto helped her move passed any anxiety.

“He was like, ‘I can tell that you're very nervous and I can tell that you had a little bit of imposter syndrome coming into this, but you are so talented and there's no reason why you should feel that way,’” she recalled.

Woman of the Hour is streaming on Netflix.

Related: How Russell Crowe helped Anna Kendrick land the perfect serial killer for Woman of the Hour