Matt Smith Plays Charles Manson In First Trailer For CHARLIE SAYS

Years after the shocking murders that made the name Charles Manson synonymous with pure evil, the three women who killed for him—Leslie Van Houten (Hannah Murray), Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon), and Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendón)—remain under the spell of the infamous cult leader (Matt Smith). Confined to an isolated cellblock in a California penitentiary, the trio seem destined to live out the rest of their lives under the delusion that their crimes were part of a cosmic plan—until empathetic graduate student Karlene Faith (Merritt Wever) is enlisted to rehabilitate them.

Convinced the prisoners are not the inhuman monsters the world believes them to be, Karlene begins the arduous process of breaking down the psychological barriers erected by Manson. But are the women ready to confront the horror of what they did?

CHARLIE SAYS premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival and will be released theatrically by IFC FILMS on May 10th with a national-roll out to follow.

The film is directed by Mary Harron (AMERICAN PSYCHO, I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE) and written by Guinevere Turner (GO FISH, AMERICAN PSYCHO, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE)

Variety interviewed director Mary Harron and writer Guinevere Turner in 2018 during the Venice Film Festival.

How did you come to cast Matt Smith as Charles Manson?

Harron: It’s funny, I think probably the first time his name crossed my radar, I thought, ‘He’s 6ft 1 and he’s British. He’s a great actor, but…’ [Laughs] It’s funny. I ran into him at the Emmys – he was Patrick Bateman in the “American Psycho” musical – so we had a nice talk, and there was already a natural connection there. Then I heard that he was interested in meeting me for the role, so I said, “Well, come in tomorrow morning, and we’ll do it.” He came in and it was the most electrifying audition I think I’ve ever been at. It was so exciting. It was like, “There’s no one else!”

Turner: When Mary showed me the audition tape, I thought, ‘Huh? Prince Philip?’ I didn’t know Matt’s work except for “The Crown,” and then I saw the audition tape and I was like, “Ooh, he can do eyes of madness. I’m scared of him!”