The series is set to debut in 2025.

By Katelyn Mensah

Published: Saturday, 17 February 2024 at 11:19 AM


Dennis Quaid is set to star in new Paramount Plus series, Happy Face, which is based on the real-life story of Melissa Moore, the daughter of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson.

Quaid will portray Keith Hunter Jesperson, who was nicknamed Happy Face because he drew smiley faces on his letters to authorities about his crimes.

Viewers recently saw Quaid star in Lawmen: Bass Reeves as Sherrill Lynn, marking Happy Face the second Paramount Plus series he has starred in.

The series is inspired by the podcast of the same name from Moore, her real life story and the book Shattered Silence, written by Moore with M Bridget Cook.

As per the official description, the series will use Moore’s story as a “jumping-off point” to explore how her “father contacts her to take credit for another victim, pulling her into an extraordinary investigation of her father and his crimes.

“As she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families, she must face a reckoning of her own identity.”

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The eight-part series is slated to debut in 2025, with production reported to begin later this year.

The actor will star alongside the previously announced Annaleigh Ashford (Welcome to Chippendales), who will portray Melissa Moore.

At the age of 15, Moore discovered that her father was the serial killer known as Happy Face. She guarded her secret and changed her name.

Keith Hunter Jesperson remains in prison at Oregon State Penitentiary, where he is serving multiple life sentences without parole.