Evan Peters Isn't the First Former Disney Star to Play Jeffrey Dahmer

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Being a Disney or Nickelodeon star is great (I'd assume) but it can be hard to break out of the 'child star' category once actors grow up and leave family-friendly networks.

Within the last several years, many former Disney and Nick kids made 180-degree career moves, playing vicious murderers — many based on actual serial killers. So, if you need new true crime recommendations because you've already watched all the shows, movies, and documentaries, here are a few more to add to your list!

1. Luke Benward

On an episode of the Criminal Minds revival, Evolution, Luke traded in his sweet guy personas from both Cloud 9 and Girl Vs. Monster for a crazed psychopath with serious mommy issues. He played a villain who literally bit women to death with specialized dentures.

2. Corey Fogelmanis

Also on an episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution, sweet Farkle from Girl Meets World played one half of a murdering duo terrorizing a community.

3. Evan Peters

In September 2022, years after he played Phil Diffy's weird friend with the math sex dream on Phil of the Future, Evan portrayed one of the evilest men of the 20th century: Jeffrey Dahmer. The Netflix true crime drama, DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, is clouded in controversy, but Evan's performance is definitely one for the books.

4. Ross Lynch

Yep, another Disney actor already played Jeffrey Dahmer. The Teen Beach Movie star shocked everyone as the young version of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer in 2017. Besides looking like a carbon copy of the teenaged Dahmer, Ross was perfect in his portrayal of the social outcast-turned-murderer.

5. Zac Efron

Your Disney crush took on the most challenging role of his career in 2019. Appropriately titled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, the film follows the exploits of real-life serial killer Ted Bundy. Zefron transformed into one of America's most notorious murderers.

6. Chad Michael Murray

Two years after Zac played Ted Bundy, the Freaky Friday heartthrob also played the notorious murderer in Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman.

7. Alex Wolff

The former Naked Brothers Band member also starred in My Friend Dahmer, but he wasn't evil in that. No, Alex saved his darkness for Patriots Day, portraying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers.

8. Dylan Sprouse

While the entire internet freaked out in 2017 after learning Dylan was returning to acting, everyone seemed to forget about the first time he announced he was returning to the screen with the dark thriller, Dismissed. Dylan first mentioned the movie in 2015, claiming the film is "a departure from anything [he's] done." Once you watch it, you'll definitely agree.

9. Elizabeth Gillies

Though Elizabeth's Jade West character on Victorious wasn't the nicest person at Hollywood Arts, her character in the Lifetime movie Killing Daddy made Jade look like a saint. In the film, Elizabeth's character plotted to kill her father (duh) in order to get a larger inheritance.

10. Avan Jogia

Clearly, Beck Oliver from Victorious is just really good at playing creepy. From convicted murderer Danny Desai in the short-lived series Twisted to convicted murderer Danny Miller in The Drowning (above), Avan's sweet Nickelodeon alter ego is definitely a thing of the past.

11. Evan Peters (again)

Before he took on the role of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022, Evan became an American Horror Story veteran. For several seasons, Evan's characters were murderers, but none were as vindictive as James March on AHS: Hotel. That character was clearly based on America's first serial killer, H.H. Holmes, who trapped unsuspecting victims in his giant house and savagely killed them.

12. Finn Wittrock

Marnie Piper's adorkable crush in Halloweentown High went on to murder a ton of people on American Horror Story. His violent rampage in AHS: Freak Show would've knocked Marnie off her Windsweeper 5000 broomstick. His Freak Show character, Dandy Mott, paid homage to Psycho's Norman Bates — which means Dandy is loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein, the real-life inspiration for Norman Bates.

13. Emma Roberts

Here's yet another star from your childhood who's switched over to the dark universe of American Horror Story. Emma may have been the sweet and dorky girl on Nickelodeon's Unfabulous, but on AHS: Coven, she was anything but. Her character killed tons of people, including a bus full of frat bros (who kind of had it coming, TBH) and her former director who dared to critique her.

14. Mitchel Musso

Hannah Montana's BFF, Oliver, accidentally killed a kid with several of his friends in The Sins of Our Youth. He came up with a plan to have all of them film different confessions and then hunt each other until only one person survives. The "winner" would then turn in the confession tape he's not on to the police. Mitchel's co-star in Hannah Montana: The Movie, Lucas Till, also starred in the thriller.

15. Michael Seater

The Life with Derek star went from playing a teen who annoyed his stepsister to a criminal mastermind on the long-running crime show, Murdoch Mysteries. After playing a murderer on and off for years, Michael eventually got his (super gross) comeuppance.

16. Bella Thorne

Shake It Up's Bella took the vengeful lover trope to new heights in the movie You Get Me. Besides lying about nearly everything, Bella's character stalked the guy who wronged her and his girlfriend, eventually turning homicidal.

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