What the Cast of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story Looks Like In Real Life
What the Cast of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story Looks Like In Real Life
Fans of the hit true-crime series Dirty John, adapted from an award-winning podcast of the same name, have been eagerly awaiting the chance to binge the show's second installment, and now that both seasons have officially arrived on Netflix, this is the perfect time to dive back in. While the second season, titled The Betty Broderick Story is entirely separate from the first—which told the true story of sociopathic con-man John Meehan (Eric Bana) and his unsuspecting victim Debra Newell (Connie Britton)—the story that inspired the show's second outing is just as real and just as shocking.
Season 2 of Dirty John depicts the marriage and divorce of Betty (Amanda Peet) and Dan Broderick (Christian Slater). The Brodericks' story was called one of "America’s messiest divorces," and for good reason—it ended in double homicide. After Dan left Betty for his much younger legal assistant, Betty's behavior became increasingly erratic and violent: she dumped their four children onto Dan's porch one by one, until he got sole custody, and also crashed her car into his house while the kids were inside. Ultimately, Betty shot and killed Dan and his new wife, execution style, in 1989. Betty was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life; she is still in prison. Here, take a look at the real-life characters and the actors that play them, as well as fictionalized characters who were added to the story.
Here's how the Dirty John season 2 characters stack up to the real people who inspired them.