Put on a happy face.
Dennis Quaid, best known for playing friendly patriarch roles in movies like “The Parent Trap,” takes a darker turn as a serial killer dad in “Happy Face,” premiering March 20 on Paramount+.
“Serial killers are very easy to play,” Quaid 70, exclusively told The Post, while promoting his “True To Texas” ad campaign.
“Because they really kind of don’t have any emotion,” the “Substance” actor explained. “They have to be a little bit removed.”
“Happy Face” is inspired by the true story of Keith Hunter Jesperson (played by Quaid), aka The Happy Face Killer.
Jesperson, 69, is currently incarcerated, serving life sentences at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Between 1990 and 1995, he admitted to killing at least eight women across California, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. After his 1995 arrest, he claimed to have killed over 100 people, but he’s only been charged with eight to date. His eighth victim was IDed in 2023, 29 years after her death.
He sent letters to authorities bragging about his crimes signed with smiley faces, which gave him his moniker.
The show is based on his daughter Melissa Moore’s 2018 podcast “Happy Face” and her 2009 book, “Shattered Silence: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter.”
In the show, Melissa (Annaleigh Asford) has a husband, Ben (James Wolk) and two kids, who have no idea that their grandfather is a serial killer. She’s a makeup artist on a Dr. Phil-esque show, “Dr. Greg,” but her quiet life becomes complicated when her incarcerated father makes contact, and claims to have information about a ninth victim that he’ll only share if Melissa agrees to meet with him.
Melissa hasn’t talked to her father in years, but an innocent man is on death row for a crime her father committed, so she must decide if it’s worth it to make her connection to the Happy Face killer publicly known.
“What made it interesting to me — because just playing a serial killer that doesn’t do much – but it’s really about the relationship between him and his daughter,” Quaid told The Post.
“That was what was interesting about the family dynamic. She had a very loving, sweet relationship with him as a little girl. And then when she was a teenager, that’s when he got caught,” he added. “And so how do you reconcile this kind of almost ‘parent trap’ that you have, for lack of a better word, to the serial killer who did all these things?”
In his own life, Quaid has three kids, including “The Boys” actor Jack Quaid, 32, whom he shares with ex-wife Meg Ryan. He’s also dad to twins Thomas and Zoe, 17, with ex Kimberly Buffington.
Jack’s also appeared in “Oppenheimer,” “Scream” and his latest, “Novocaine.”
“Maybe way back when he was a kid, but really he’s done it all on his own,” Dennis said of whether Jack’s asked for acting advice. “His career is really blowing up this year. It’s perfect. He’s right on track. He’s got such a great head on his shoulders.”
