The Netflix series about notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been controversial for its brutality. Dahmer actor Evan Peters reveals that for a long time he didn't know if he even wanted to play him. An old confidante finally helped him.

According to his own words, US actor Evan Peters considered for a long time whether he should accept the leading role in the true crime series "Dahmer - Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer". "It was a real fight," the 35-year-old said in an interview with Variety. "I've been thinking back and forth a lot." Ultimately, the decisive factor was the prospect of working again with series maker Ryan Murphy, with whom he had already shot "American Horror Story".

"I knew you were an incredible support, that I trust you and that there was an honesty between us," he told Murphy in the joint interview. During the interview, Murphy said he couldn't imagine any other actor giving 120 percent like Peters. The actor was also very focused off the set. "It was like running a marathon. When you run a marathon, you eat a certain way. You sleep a certain way. It was a very athletic way of approaching the performance."

Since the series accompanies its main character over a longer period of time, Peters has had to adapt physically again and again. For the first episodes he lost over seven kilos, he said. Later he had to build muscle and gain ten kilos. The Netflix series is highly controversial for its brutality and psychological thrill. Real serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer once confessed after his arrest to having murdered 17 young men between 1978 and 1991.