What Michael Peterson Thinks of Colin Firth in The Staircase

If it were up to Michael Peterson, Brad Pitt would’ve played him in HBO Max’s The Staircase. 

Instead, Colin Firth played the author in Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn‘s adaptation of the true-crime documentary. “I will forever be known as Colin Firth,” Michael told Variety June 15. “It could be worse, I suppose. He’s not my favorite actor. Get Brad Pitt!”

Michael, who hasn’t seen the series, continued, “To me, Colin’s a great actor but I can’t think of any roles that weren’t dull as dirt that he’s ever played and that’s fine.”

Michael has previously spoken out against the adaptation, in which Colin plays Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette) in December 2001. Michael was later convicted of murder, but was granted a retrial in 2011. Then, after six years, he entered an Alford plea, acknowledging that there was enough evidence to convict him of manslaughter while still maintaining his innocence. 

Though The Staircase documentary focused on Michael’s legal battles, the HBO Max series imagines what Kathleen’s life looked like prior to her death and examines how the case impacted the Peterson family as a whole. Michael takes issue with these dramatizations, telling Variety, “I might be a public figure, but my children are not.”