With production on Mary Harron’s Charlie Says due to begin imminently, another of the film’s key roles has been cast. Sosie Bacon (pictured in Scream: The TV Series) will be playing Patricia Krenwinkel, the woman considered by Charles Manson to be perhaps his most loyal follower, and currently the longest-standing female inmate in California’s prison system.
Bacon – who is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick – joins a cast that so far includes Suki Waterhouse, Hannah Murray, Odessa Young, Carla Gugino, Marianne Rendon, Kaylie Carter, Merritt Wever and Chace Crawford, who was announced last week, and will play infamous ‘family’ member ‘Tex’ Watson. Manson himself will be played by former Doctor Who star Matt Smith.
Charlie Says sees Harron reunite with her American Psycho writer Guinevere Turner, whose script is partially based on Karlene Faith’s book The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond The Cult, as well as Ed Sanders’ controversial 1971 novel, The Family.
“Charlie Says will focus on the three young women who were sentenced to death following the infamous murder case of Manson. When the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student, Karlene Faith, was sent in to teach them, and through her the film will follow their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.”
2019 – which will see the release of both Charlie Says and Quentin Tarantino’s Manson-inspired ninth film – will mark 50 years since the Manson murders.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)