Recently, a twisted crime thriller from the ‘90s rocketed into the top 10 on Netflix. Copycat landed on the streaming service in mid-June, and it introduced the movie to a whole new audience.
Released in 1995, Copycat features an all-star cast, including Sigourney Weaver as an agoraphobic serial killer expert, Holly Hunter as a San Francisco cop investigating a series of brutal murders, and Harry Connick Jr. as Daryll Lee Cullum, a killer who is fixated on Weaver’s character. And then there’s William McNamara, who plays Peter Foley, the copycat killer of the film’s title. The character is undeniably creepy, and stepping into the role had unexpected consequences for McNamara, he recently recalled.
William McNamara on how ‘Copycat’ changed his life
Not long after Copycat was added to Netflix, McNamara took to Instagram to comment on its unexpected resurgence. After noting that it was the No. 8 movie on Netflix, he added that the “movie ruined my career – and ended my dating life!”
McNamara elaborated on how playing serial killer tanked his romantic life in an interview with the Life After Movies Web Show earlier this year. When the movie released, he was “young … dating a lot of girls. I did very well with the female population.”
“I would meet a girl, always would get her number immediately,” he recalled.
All that changed after Copycat hit theaters.
“All of the sudden, my play, my magic, my stuff wasn’t working anymore. I’d go to ask for the phone number and almost every time, the girl would say, ‘I’m sorry. You’re cute. But there’s something I don’t trust about you.’”
His therapist clued him in to what was happening, he said.
“You did a great job [in Copycat],” he recalled her saying. “Your performance is very unnerving. And it’s subtle and unnerving.” Women he approached may not have immediately recognized him from the movie, she suggested, but they remembered him enough to get a bad vibe. Once he pointed out to them that he’d been in Copycat, they realized what was going on.
Casting directors thought he was a ‘psychopath’ after ‘Copycat’
Copycat also affected his career in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Prior to the movie, he’d played a lot of “soft” boy-next-door types in Stealing Home and Radio Inside. But after Copycat, he wasn’t being considered for conventional leading man roles.
“Copycat was an interesting time in my career … my agent tried to submit me for the young leading man things. And the casting [directors] said ‘No. No, no, no, no. I know Billy McNamara. He’s way too dark and edgy. He’s a psychopath.”
“For five years I was too soft,” he said. “I was too feminine for five years. Too soft and boyish. Now I’m a dark psychopath? It’s crazy.”
McNamara admits his Hollywood career didn’t pan out quite like he imagined. In addition to typecasting, he dealt with a “very challenging drug problem.” While he’s continued to work as an actor, he also got involved in animal rights and rescue groups, including Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. That led to him producing a show on National Geographic called Animal Intervention.
“I never lived up to my potential on a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t know how to combat it. I think if I knew that, I’d be doing way better today than I am.”
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