The new HBO Max series Love & Death stars Elizabeth Olsen as Candace “Candy” Montgomery, a housewife in 1970s Wylie, Texas whose life is upended when she is accused of murdering her friend from church, Betty. While she maintains that she is innocent of the crime, matters are complicated by the fact that she was secretly sleeping with Betty’s husband, Allan.
Based on a true story, the premise of Love & Death might sound familiar; that’s because many elements of the same events were fictionalized last year in Hulu’s Candy, which starred Jessica Biel in the title role. Love & Death, which is an HBO Max production from Big Little Lies and The Lincoln Lawyer creator David E. Kelley, offers a fresh interpretation of the famous true crime case, with a new cast embodying the real-life people involved.
Meet the key players in Love & Death, as well as their counterparts in the real world.
Elizabeth Olsen / Candy Montgomery
While best known to moviegoers as Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Elizabeth Olsen first emerged as an indie darling, starring in the critically acclaimed film Martha Marcy May Marlene and complementing her MCU resume with roles in Wind River and Ingrid Goes West.
In Love & Death, Olsen plays Candy Montgomery, a stay-at-home wife and mother who embarks on an extramarital affair, and ends up becoming the prime suspect when her lover’s wife is murdered.
Jesse Plemons / Allan Gore
Love & Death is the latest in a long line of impressive projects for Plemons. After first gaining attention in the beloved TV series Friday Night Lights, he has appeared in Breaking Bad, Black Mirror and Fargo, as well as bringing his intensity to critically acclaimed films like The Irishman, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and The Power of the Dog. He will next appear in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
His Love & Death character is Allan Gore, who becomes romantically involved with Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), and they are both implicated when his wife Betty is murdered with an ax.
Lily Rabe / Betty Gore
Rabe’s resume includes The Undoing, Shrinking, and The First Lady, but she is probably most recognized from her frequent appearances in Ryan Murphy productions, playing multiple characters across nine seasons of the American Horror Story anthology franchise. Rabe plays Allan’s wife Betty in Love & Death, whose brutal murder in real life made national headlines.
The cast also includes Tom Pelphrey, best known for his roles in Ozark, Outer Range, and Mank, as lawyer Don Crowder, Almost Famous‘ Patrick Fugit as Candy Montgomery’s husband, Pat, Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter as Candy’s best friend Sherry Cleckler, The Dropout‘s Elizabeth Marvel as Pastor Jackie Ponder, and Atypical star Keir Gilchrist as Pastor Ron Adams, all of whom are loosely based on real figures in Candy’s life.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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