Ted Bundy Survivor Says Zac Efron Was Right To Play Him In The Film

One of Ted Bundy's survivors has said it was right to cast a 'heartthrob' as the role of Ted in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

The film has been criticised for romanticising Bundy, who confessed to raping and murdering upwards of 30 women and girls, however one woman who survived his brutal attack has defended the choice to cast Zac Efron as the serial killer.

Kathy Kleiner Rubin was attacked by Bundy at Florida State University's Chi Omega house in 1978.

"I don't have a problem with people looking at it, and as long as they understand that what they're watching wasn't a normal person," she told TMZ. "I believe that in order to show him exactly the way he was, it's not really glorifying him, but it's showing him, and when they do say positive and wonderful things about him... that's what they saw, that's what Bundy wanted you to see."

Netflix

Kathy went onto say that while the film could revere Bundy more than it should, the message it sets out to tell is that he was a charming and charismatic person on the surface, despite being capable of such barbaric and heinous crimes underneath.

She added: "Hopefully it will make women more aware of their surroundings and be cautious. He had different tactics that he used for people to help him get in cars or do things, and in your gut you just feel that something doesn't feel right."

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival at the weekend, comes after Netflix released The Ted Bundy Tapes, which featured never-heard-before tapes of Bundy before his execution 30 years ago.

However, the streaming giant has now issued a statement after a worrying number of viewers commented on Bundy's 'hotness.'

"I've seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy's alleged hotness," Netflix wrote. "And would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service - almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers."

A very good point, well made, Netflix.

Topics: TV News, Ted Bundy, TV Entertainment

Emma Rosemurgey

Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Junior Journalist at Tyla. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining the team in 2017. Contact her on [email protected]

@emmarosemurgey