#INTERVIEW: “BOSTON STRANGLER”

By Mr. Will Wong

16 women where killed in Boston, Massachussetts throughout the ’60s and if it weren’t for the groundbreaking female journalists at the Boston Record American, the common connection among these deaths might not have ever been found. Matt Ruskin writes and directs the compelling BOSTON STRANGLER, coming March 17, 2023 to Disney+ in Canada.

The Historical Drama recounts the struggles that Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) faced in their efforts to break the story at the publication for which they worked, having to overcome sexism, while also uncovering a web of corruption that kept the killer at large. These female journalists also put their own safety at risk when their identities became attached to their reporting.

So thrilled to join a virtual junket with the Director/Writer and Cast of BOSTON STRANGLER. In-attendance were:

• Keira Knightley (as Loretta McLaughlin)
• Carrie Coon (as Jean Cole)
• Alessandro Nivola (as Detective Conley)
• Chris Cooper (as Jack MacLaine)
• Matt Ruskin (Director)

The Cast and Crew are asked what drew them to this project.

Ruskin: “I had always heard about the Boston Strangler, but I really didn’t know anything about the case. And then, several years ago, I started reading all that I could and discovered this incredibly-layered murder mystery that was full of twists and turns. And, in many ways, was as much a story about the city at the time. And so, I was just completely gripped by the case. And when I discovered these reporters, Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole, I found out that they were one of the first reporters to connect the murders. And they actually gave the Boston Strangler his name during the course of their reporting. I felt like that was a really compelling way to revisit this case.”.

Knightley: “Well, I think for me, I had heard of the Boston Strangler. I really didn’t know anything about it. So I really came to it from Matt’s wonderful Script. And I just thought it was a really interesting way of telling the story of a serial killer but through the point-of-view of these two female journalists. And the fact that you’ve kinda got a case where most people didn’t know that it was two women who broke the story, that they’ve largely sort of been erased from the history of this case, I thought was really interesting.”.

Coon: “Yes, that was the most shocking part of it for me, that these women were so integral to breaking the case and to forcing the police departments to share information. And their names are never mentioned in association with it. That was really shocking to me. And then, their stories of how they became journalists, as individuals, they were very compelling, very moving stories. It certainly echoed the lives of the women in my world who grew up in the Midwest. My mother was a nurse. One of my grandmothers was a teacher, and the other was a homemaker. And those were the opportunities available to women aside from secretary. So Jean’s fight to become a journalist at all was very moving to me. And then, of course, I had seen Crown Heights, which Matt had made, and I think of him as a really, deeply moral Filmmaker. And I knew that his interest in this story was feminist. You know?”.

Knightley is asked what impressed her most about the nature of these female journalists’ investigation.

Knightley: “Well, I think for me, this whole film is really a love song to female investigative journalists. And really highlights how important it is to have women in position of power in storytelling because it was these two women that really went, ‘This is an important story. This is information that needs to be in the public in order to keep women of Boston safe.’ And I think, largely, it was a story that had been, at that point, ignored by the male establishment. And I don’t know that their male colleagues would have seen the importance of it. So I think it’s wonderful to be part of something that is really highlighting how important it is to have as many good female journalists as you possibly can for the safety of our communities.”.

Chris Cooper actually has only a couple degrees of separation from the real Loretta McLaughlin.

Cooper: “I was lucky enough to rub shoulders with Eileen McNamara, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who worked on the Boston Globe in the ’70s and ’80s. Loretta was a mentor to Eileen, and Eileen directed me to exactly what I needed. And a little bit unorthodox, I followed Jack Maclaine, the character. Jack was never too interested in these murders, you know? And it was complete embarrassment for the Boston Police. They didn’t seem to be pursuing it that much. But Eileen directed me to source material that was so specifically for the ’60s newsroom, what happens politically, you know, just terminology I wanted to know about, hierarchy within the paper. That’s where my interest, and that’s where my research led me.”.

Alessandro Nivola comments on his character Detective Conley and his connection to the story and Loretta.

Nivola: “Yeah, I mean, I think the character is pissed off that the police department isn’t dealing with sort of more modern techniques of forensic psychology and that they’re not interested, seemingly, in connecting these murders. And so he does what’s kind of a desperate move in reaching out to her or, you know, agreeing to talk to her, because he’s probably the son of a cop. He’s probably the grandson of a cop. And so, you know, he’s facing, potentially, you know, betraying the department and casting >the department in a bad light by having, you know, it be perceived that the media is driving the case forward instead of the police department. But he does it because he’s just, like, totally obsessed with the case, and the only other person that he encounters who’s also totally obsessed with the case is her. And so, you know, I think, in that way, they feel like they are kind of cut from the same cloth. He’s probably also attracted to her and enjoys those encounters.”.

Ruskin talks about the importance of filming this Film in Boston.

Ruskin: “Yeah, I think one of the reasons I wanted to film the Movie in Boston was to be able to bring in a lot of the local talent. There’s an extraordinary theater world and scene in Boston and just a very deep pool of talent of local actors. So it’s great to be able to bring them in and allow some people to speak with their, you know, Boston accents. And I would just add to that, in this case, it’s not as much about class as it is just about as a generational thing, you know? Like Loretta’s parents came over from Ireland, so for her, she grew up in a house that didn’t have Boston accents. They were just trying to assimilate. So some of it is, you know, how long you’ve been in the [college?].”.

Disney+ Canada streams BOSTON STRANGLER beginning Friday, March 17, 2023.

(Photo/video credit: Disney+)