Who plays Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's 'Monster'? Here's what we know about Evan Peters

If you've tuned into Netflix's chilling series 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,'—which landed on Netflix on September, 21—you might find yourself wondering about the actor portraying one of history's most notorious serial killers. So, here's the scoop on Evan Peters, from his past roles to his transformation into Jeffrey Dahmer. 

The new limited series, brought to us by Ryan Murphy was announced in October 2021, is told from the point of view of Dahmer's victims as well as exploring how white privilege played a part in the killer's lenient treatment before he was finally convicted.  

The ten-part series stars Peters as Dahmer, along with the likes of Niecy Nash as Dahmer's neighbor—who tried to report his suspicious behavior multiple times and Penelope Ann Miller and Richard Jenkins as his parents. Meanwhile Shaun J Brown will play the man who escaped from Dahmer and ultimately led police to finally arrest him.

The grizzly show has unsurprisingly left viewers unsettled—but simultaneously praising the performance of its lead actor, who you'll recognize from a number of major films and TV shows! Here's what you need to know about Even Peters...

 Who plays Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's monster? 

The actor portraying Dahmer in Netflix's Damner series is Evan Peters—who is perhaps best known for his role as Quicksilver, aka Peter Maximoff, in the X-Men movie franchise, also reprising this role in WandaVision, despite the character being played by another actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but we'll get to that later!).

Peters is 35 years old and was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States but moved to Grand Blanc, Michigan after his father's job transferred him. Following the move, Peters began acting lessons before moving to LA with his mother at just 15, to pursue his career. He then landed his breakthrough role in 2011, as Tate Langdon in American Horror Story.

Jeffrey Dahmer Evan Peters comparison

Now, the Quicksilver actor has taken on the role of the notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer and viewers are shook by his incredible transformation and performance. 

One Twitter user said of his portrayal: "As someone who watches way too many crime documentaries, Evan Peters nailed playing Jeffrey Dahmer in #DahmerMonsterTheJeffreyDahmerStory. The voice, the stance, the calmness when he speaks. He's so good at it, it's actually f*** scary."

Another viewer added: "Insane acting from Evan Peters. Emmy bound."

The hair and makeup department also definitely deserves an award, because the likeness in these side-by-sides is unsettling, to say the least...

Evan Peters talking about Dahmer

Speaking on the role, Peters explained to Netflix that 'Monster' is not just about the serial killer, he said: "We had one rule going into this from Ryan [Murphy] that it would never be told from Dahmer’s point of view. As an audience, you're not really sympathizing with him. You're not really getting into his plight, you're more sort of watching it from the outside."

He continued: "It’s called The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, but it’s not just him and his backstory. It’s the repercussions; it’s how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times, because of racism and homophobia. The Jeffrey Dahmer story is so much bigger than just him."

Speaking on how he prepared for the role, Peters said that he read biographies, police reports, and Dahmer's confession, as well as watched videos and listened to recordings of his voice. 

He said with his portrayal, "It felt important to be respectful to the victims and to the victims' families to try to tell the story as authentically as we could."

He then went on to describe how he knew the role would be one of the 'hardest' of his life, saying: "I was very scared about all of the things that Dahmer did, and diving into that and trying to commit to [playing this character] was absolutely going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life because I wanted it to be very authentic.

"But in order to do that, I was going to have to go to really dark places and stay there for an extended period of time."

He then added: "I have to say that the crew was instrumental in keeping me on the guard rails, I cannot thank them enough and I could not have done any of this role with them...It was a challenge to try to have this person who was seemingly so normal but underneath all of it, had this entire world that he was keeping secret from everybody."

 What else has Evan Peters been in?

Fans will recognize Peters as 'Quicksilver' from the X-Men movies, as well as in American Horror Story where he landed his breakout role as Tate. He's also starred in Kick-Ass and cameoed in numerous TV Shows including One Tree Hill, The Office and WandaVision.

Is Evan Peters in the MCU?

It's very confusing, but yes he is. Evan Peters delighted and baffled fans in 2021 after he reprised his original role as Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) in Marvel's WandaVision —despite the role previously belonging to Aaran Johnson.

Aaron Johnson's Pietro was killed in Avenger's Age of Ultron, which exists in the same universe as WandaVision. In the show, Peters' Pietro revealed that his name was actually 'Ralph Bohner' which has prompted many many theories suggesting that Bohner is actually a multiversal version of Pietro—similar to what we saw in Spiderman No Way Home—with lovers/co-stars Tom Holland and Zendaya.

Who is Evan Peters on One Tree Hill?

Some fans may have forgotten that Peters actually had a stint on One Tree Hill as John Jack Daniels, who was a love interest of Sam Walkers.

He appeared in six episodes during the sixth season of the show, before his character, John, left Tree Hill to live with his new foster parents.

Evan Peters in Disney's Phil of the Future

For all our Disney Channel kids out there, you may also remember Peters as Seth Wosmer, the nerdy friend of Phil, Keely, and Tia in season one of Phil of the Future.

Though he departed the show before the second season and his role was recast.

 Does Evan Peters have social media?

As far as we can tell, no, Evan Peters does not have social media but you can catch interviews with him and behind-the-scenes shots of him in his latest role as Jeffrey Dahmer on Netflix's Instagram page.

 Who is Evan Peters' girlfriend now?

From the looks of it, Evan Peters is currently single or managing to keep his relationship status on the DL. In the past though, he has dated actress Emma Roberts and singer, Halsey.

Who was Jeffrey Dahmer? 

Also known as the 'Milwaukee Monster', Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer who killed 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Many of his crimes also involved dismemberment and cannibalism. 

Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life sentences in prison, but died in jail in 1994 after being attacked by another inmate, just two years into his sentence. 

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is now streaming on Netflix. The three-part docu-series, Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, will arrive on Netflix on October 7.