Actor Rob Lowe perfected his portrayal of Drew Peterson for an upcoming TV movie by immersing himself in "hours and hours" of footage of the accused killer.
The former police sergeant is currently awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, whose death had initially been ruled an accidental drowning. His fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007.
Lowe tackles the title role in Drew Peterson: Untouchable, which is set to air in America later this month (Jan12), and he threw himself into the part.
The actor tells U.S. talk show host Piers Morgan, "He's controversial and people know what he looks like. He's outrageous, he's over the top, he was all over the media until he was finally put in jail, awaiting trial.
"So I had to look like him. And so... the challenge was how do I transform myself... and not have it be a caricature.
"I think he has a sort of malignant charm. And the question was how do you find that? I watched hours and hours and hours and hours of footage on him. He's got a very particular speech pattern, the way he holds himself, all the stuff that all actors do when they're playing somebody who's a real character.
"And I just loved it, because it was so far astray from what I do on Parks and Recreation every week, where I play Chris Traeger, who's a sort of comedy character."