Jesse Plemons on Love & Death 's suburban 'unease' and his trust in Kirsten Dunst's instincts
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In June 1980, a visit between two friends in the manicured suburbs of Wylie, Texas, turned gruesome.
Candy Montgomery had stopped by the home of Betty Gore to retrieve a swimsuit for Gore's daughter, who was set to spend the day with the Montgomery children. While there, Gore confronted Montgomery: She knew about the affair she had with her husband, Allan.
A few hours later, Gore's body was discovered in a blood-soaked utility room, lacerated with 41 ax wounds.
The true story serves as the basis of Love & Death, HBO Max's miniseries from creator David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing) and director Lesli Linka Glatter (Mad Men, Homeland). Elizabeth Olsen, Lily Rabe, Jesse Plemons, Krysten Ritter, and Patrick Fugit make up the star-studded cast of characters whose otherwise picturesque lives take a dark turn.
For Plemons, who portrays the unassuming Allan Gore opposite Olsen's Candy Montgomery and Rabe's Betty Gore, the stranger-than-fiction story was much too compelling to pass up.
Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons on 'Love & Death'
"The further we got into it, the more we learned about these characters, the more I started to feel like it's really difficult to find a true villain in this story," Plemons tells EW. "The longer you sit with these characters, you begin to understand why they make these choices, [which are] obviously incredibly tragic. That was something that was really compelling to me. There's a lot of food for thought there."
Plemons — who was born and raised in Dallas, located some 20+ miles from Wylie — says the story paints a portrait of the unspoken "unease" hidden behind the white picket fences of suburbia.
"There is this sort of blueprint of what success looks like. And I think all of them, when we meet them, have done their best to carry that out," he says. "They've all got good jobs. They've got their homes, their families, their community, their church. But I think in all of these characters, there is an unease that has been bubbling for a while, and I think they all sort of look around and think, 'Well, there's no reason for me not to be fulfilled and satisfied.'"
Yet "there's something in each of their lives and relationships that's preventing them from feeling like they're part of the American dream," Plemons says.
Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max Jesse Plemons on 'Love & Death'
The seven-episode series follows not just Gore's murder, but Montgomery's highly-publicized trial and the shocking verdict. Montgomery and Gore's story inspired another true crime adaptation, Hulu's Candy starring Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey, released last year. Both iterations drew from Texas Monthly's gripping 1984 two-part report, "Love and Death in Silicon Prairie."
Why does the case continue to resonate decades later? Plemons presumes people are "fascinated by that darkness that does exist in the world, especially when it involves people that, on the surface, seem just like you."
The actor is no stranger to dark material; he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Fargo and Black Mirror, and made memorable turns on Breaking Bad and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. When it comes to choosing projects, the actor says he and his wife Kirsten Dunst "lean on each other for most decisions."
"As soon as there's a script or a potential project that we're deciding whether or not to do, we're usually just pestering the other one to read the script so they can give their input," he says. "I respect her opinion so much, and so I'm always curious to know what she thinks. She's very, very smart and just has such great instincts and taste. I would say almost everything, we're talking it out with each other."
Netflix Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst in 'The Power of the Dog'
The two, who met on the Fargo season 2 set, reunited onscreen for Jane Campion's 2021 Academy Award-winning western The Power of The Dog and both earned Oscar nominations for their roles. There were, of course, zero reservations to collaborate once again with Dunst, Plemons says: "Getting to work with your significant other on a Jane Campion film in New Zealand? I didn't see a downside."
Love & Death debuts April 27 on HBO Max with three episodes, followed by new episodes weekly on Thursdays until May 25.
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