LOS ANGELES — Marg Helgenberger is a wife and a mother. Apart from that, she would seem to have absolutely nothing in common with Patsy Ramsey. So why would the strawberry-haired actress choose to play the notorious mother of murdered beauty tot JonBenet Ramsey in the four-hour CBS miniseries Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, airing Sunday and Wednesday?
Helgenberger (both during a media press conference and at a later date over lunch at a restaurant near her Santa Monica, Calif., home) explains her choice of such a controversial role calmly, with no air of defensiveness. Furthermore, she also is prepared to defend Ramsey, whom she points out has been found guilty of nothing outside the arena of gossip and public opinion.
“Prior to being offered the role, I believed one of them (Patsy or husband John) was involved. Although I had not really been following the case closely, I did consider what I knew of their behavior bizarre and suspicious. But I also believed that if all those videotapes of JonBenet had not existed, we would not have been titillated and immediately jumped to judgment,” Helgenberger says, reflecting on the media circus that surrounded the video footage of the little blond child gussied up like a sexy adult performing at beauty pageants.
When Helgenberger’s agent called to find out if she was interested in the role, she admits, “It kind of took my breath away because she’s infamous, and I wouldn’t naturally think of myself as first choice for the part.” However, on the strength of her interest in the investigative journalism of Larry Schiller, upon whose best-selling book the series is based, she accepted the offer. Schiller also directed and executive co-produced with Richard Waltzer, former head of HBO Pictures. “Larry really dig, dig, digs, and he’s not judgmental,” Helgenberger says, describing the miniseries as being shot in “a kind of photo-journalism way: low-angle, filled with group shots, so you kind of have to choose for yourself where to look — sort of like Woody Allen’s style.”
She stresses, “Larry tried to be as fair as possible, and there is no re-enactment of the child’s death. It starts from the 911 phone call Patsy makes, and it’s all taken right off public record.” Schiller (also author of American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense) had access to 1,800 pages of police documents about the 1996 Ramsey murder, which took place on Christmas night in Boulder, Colo. He describes the miniseries as being “like an editorial” and says “it’s not my job to solve the crime.” Besides Helgenberger, the miniseries stars Ronny Cox as John Ramsey, Ann-Margret as Patsy’s mother, Kris Kristofferson as Detective Lou Smit. Ken Howard, John Heard, Jane Powell, Sally Kirkland and John Rubinstein are also featured in the docudrama, while Dyanne Iandoli plays JonBenet. Although Helgenberger still has no firm opinion as to guilt or innocence, she believed the only way to approach the role was to play her innocent. “I felt only by wiping the slate clean could I portray her properly.”
2000