Bernardo Lead Defends Role

The Globe and Mail, By GAYLE MACDONALD, Tuesday, January 17, 2006 Page R1

The American actor recruited to play Paul Bernardo in the controversial film Karla compares the making of this movie to "going to a loved one's funeral every day."

For weeks after wrapping the film, Misha Collins -- who co-stars alongside That '70s Show's Laura Prepon, who plays Karla Homolka -- said he had difficulty sleeping. "I've heard some professional actors never take their work home. But for me, this role was impossible to leave it at work," says the 31-year-old from Massachusetts.

"It took weeks to shake it after we stopped shooting. I was trying to stay away from my friends as much as possible because I didn't want to poison any of those relationships. It was a lot of responsibility to play the most hated person in the country."

In Toronto yesterday to promote the upcoming film (it debuts Friday) about one of Canada's most notorious rapists and murderers, Collins says he prepared for the role by pulling up media clippings on line and then watching countless serial-killer films.

"Anthony Hopkins's character in Silence of the Lambs particularly struck me," he says. "His character just seemed so remorseless and that was my impression of Paul too. Knowing [these crimes] were all based on truth made it that much more difficult."

Despite the heinous subject, Collins adds he did try give his Bernardo some human qualities to avoid "playing some blanket stereotype of a horrible human being.

"In the film, you do see that he was charismatic. You see that he had friends, and he initially attracted Karla through his charm. I don't think we glorify him in any way. But I recently saw the film Downfall in which Adolf Hitler is portrayed as a compelling, and at times, compassionate person. That resonated with me because it made the evil of Hitler that much more horrific," adds the actor, who has appeared in several TV programs including 24, Monk and ER as well as some independent films, including a small part in Girl, Interrupted with Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder.

Despite the emotional turmoil he endured making this film -- particularly disturbing were the torture scenes based on the real-life slayings of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French -- Collins says he believes there is merit in portraying true-crime dramas.

"When we started shooting I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull off some of the scenes. And then we started, and I was really surprised to see lurking somewhere in the guts of my psyche, these seeds of violence that I had never given any fertilizer or water to, and yet, there was something there I could tap into," says Collins. "I'm sure a large portion of the population has the occasional dark fantasy of some sort. Then there's another portion of the population that turns that into some sort of real craving. Finally, there's another portion that actually takes that final horrific step and does what Paul and Karla did."

Collins adds he believes the filmmakers did everything they could to protect the dignity of the victims' families and not to exploit the dead girls. "The family has been dragged through the mire for years by the general press," he says. "And I don't think anything we've done has harmful intent. But I hope it doesn't cause them further pain.

"Still, I think it's interesting that every media outlet here seemed to send a reporter to cover Karla being released from jail. It was on the front page of every newspaper in Canada, and presumably sold a lot of copies. So to accuse us of doing something exploitative because dollars could be made off this movie holds us to a strange double standard. It's a news story people want to read about. And it's a story that people may be interested in seeing in film format. But it's their choice."