Toni Collette was rightfully cautious when it came time to play Kathleen Peterson The Staircase.
The death of Kathleen, a mother to five children, in North Carolina in December 2001 has been more than twenty years ago. While her family will never truly move on from her passing, she and her friends have tried their best to continue their lives. Toni was concerned that she would be complicit with the creation of new wounds after HBO Max released a television adaptation of Kathleen’s documentary. She told CelebHomes News that Kathleen is still alive and at the heart of the family.
Toni wanted to remember this true-life woman for who she really was and not her grisly death details. She eventually realized that a television adaptation of the true story would accomplish that.
The series breathes new life into Kathleen, Toni said, detailing the weeks and months before she died and offering a “more balanced” perspective of her relationship with husband Michael Peterson (Colin FirthShe entered an Alford plea for manslaughter (2017, ) She said, “The story just seems so authentic to me. It feels grounded.”