South Africa’s renowned serial-killer profiler Micki Pistorius will be portrayed by “Game of Thrones” actress Charlotte Hope in a TV adaptation of Pistorius’s true-crime book, “Catch Me a Killer”.
The series will carry the same name and is set to premiere in January 2023. Other South African stars who will feature in some episodes include “Legacy” actor Vaughn Lucas, stage and screen actor Gavin Werner and the multi-talented Chris van Rensburg.
Set in the mid-90s, the series traces Pistorius’s quest as a newly qualified forensic psychologist to track down South Africa’s most feared killers at a time when the country was gripped by an epidemic of rising crime and mass murder.
The serial-killer profiler turned author of six published books, which include “Fatal Females: Women Who Kill” and “Strangers on the Street”, says, on her website, that in order to understand the mind of a serial killer, the profiler must be prepared by life experiences before he or she can “dare to venture into the abyss”.
“A person who has led a protected life will not survive … Serial killers experience the power over life and death as omnipotence.
“Since they have little control over their own lives and feelings, they become addicted to the omnipotence that control over someone else’s life gives them.
“Therefore, they will kill repetitively. It restores the mental imbalance they experience whenever their self-worth is challenged … when I interrogate a serial killer I dive into the blackness of his soul.
“I am familiar with his feelings of emptiness, loneliness, depression, death, omnipotence and fear. I dive deeply to get a grip of his torment,” she wrote.
“Game of Thrones” and “The Nun” actress Hope is set to lead the 10-episode series and is now in Cape Town, where filming has been under way for the past eight weeks.
She took to Instagram to share the news.
“Having the best time working on this with the best people,” she wrote.
Actor Grant Ross, who plays Jannie in the series, commented: “Likewise. What an honour to be playing make believe opposite thee Catherine Hope 😁😉You're focused, fun and down to earth.
“All the ingredients for an incredible actor and very special human. I've already learnt so much just watching your process. Thank you. It’s been an amazing atmosphere. 🙌❤️.”
The new true-crime series, which is being produced by Germany production company Night Train Media and M-Net/Showmax, is set to air in 2023.
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