The 10 Biggest True Story Changes From Rodney Alcala’s Serial Killer Story on Woman of the Hour

Warning! This post contains spoilers for Woman of the Hour.

This post contains mentions of sexual assault, murder, and real-life violent crimes by Rodney Alcala.

Woman of the hour stays true to many elements of Rodney Alcala’s serial killer story, but isn’t afraid to take some creative liberties. On the occasion of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the hour does not present itself as a mere timeline of Rodney Alcala’s real-life murders. Instead, it revisits several parts of his story that not only highlight the viciousness of his crimes, but also show how everyday sexism enabled him to participate in a dating game show and to get away with a lot of murders.

Anna Kendrick’s direction takes care of that Woman of the hour unfolds primarily from the perspective of the women who encountered the serial killer. For all its reality and emotional weight, the Netflix thriller also contains many fictional elements. While some of its characters are not based on real people, many of its scenes never took place in real life. These creative choices do not diminish the impact of Woman of the houris the overarching message. However, it is worth examining how factually accurate the Anna Kendrick film’s portrayal of the strange true story is.

10 The Woman of the Hour changes the names of several real people

Even the main character’s name is spelled differently

The film’s main character, played by Anna Kendrick, is based on Cheryl Bradshaw, who met Rodney Alcala The dating game show. In the film, however Chreyl’s name is intentionally spelled as “”Sheryl“ because it requires a lot of creative freedom in portraying their story. Eventthe dating gameis hosted in Woman of the hour is called Ed Burke, while the actual host of the show was named Jim Lange. In one of his timelines Woman of the hour also describes Monique Hoyt’s encounter with Rodney Alcala. The character based on Monique Hoyt is named Amy in the film’s story.

9 The real Rodney Alcala’s answers in the dating game were scary from the start

His early answers may have raised Cheryl Bradshaw’s suspicions

In Woman of the hourRodney Alcala delights Sheryl and the audience with his charm and clever answers to all questions. However, during the events of the real one dating game In this episode, his answers seemed off-putting from the start. When Cheryl Bradshaw asked, “I’ll serve you for dinner. What’s your name and what do you look like?Alcala replied creepily, “I’m called the banana and I look good,“Add”Peel me” to his answer (via ABC News).

8 The real Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala didn’t meet after the dating game

The film’s depiction of their meeting is completely fictional

Sheryl meets Rodney again after she finishes filming dating game Follow in Woman of the hour‘s final arc. Although the two are supposed to wait for the show to arrange a holiday date for them, Rodney convinces Sheryl to go out with him that night. Things start well between them, but Sheryl begins to feel uncomfortable around Rodney.

Sheryl even rejects him and tells him she doesn’t want to see him again. Rodney doesn’t handle the rejection well and almost becomes violent towards her, but he is forced to let Sheryl go to avoid attracting attention. In real life, Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala never met again after the show. Although Rodney Alcala won his date with Cheryl, she later refused to go out with him.

7 No participant in the dating game warned Cheryl Bradshaw about Rodney Alcala

Cheryl Bradshaw rejected Rodney Alcala based on her own judgment

When Bachelor number 2 finally meets Sheryl towards the end of the show Woman of the hourHe secretly warns her to be careful around Rodney Alcala before she leaves the stage. His warning alerts her early on that something is wrong with Alcala. The warning later appears to play a crucial role in convincing Sheryl not to go on a date with the show’s winner.

In real life, there was no report of such an interaction between Cheryl Bradshaw and any contestant. Bradshaw drew on her own instincts and feelings about Alcala’s answers before rejecting him. According to reports (via JH Moncrieff) Actor Jed Mills, who also took part in the show, called Alcala a “very strange guy” with “bizarre opinions.”

6 Cheryl Bradshaw canceled her date with Rodney Alcala because of a phone call

Her instincts seemingly saved her life

Unlike the film, in which Sheryl and Rodney were supposed to vacation, the real Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala had arranged a date for a tennis match the day after filming the series. However, after meeting with Alcala, Bradshaw called participant coordinator Ellen Metzger to inform her that she wanted to cancel the appointment. “I can’t date this guy, he gives off strange vibes. He is very strange. I don’t feel well,” she said (via ABC News), clearly expressing how uncomfortable she felt around him.

5 “Woman of the Hour” imagines most elements of Cheryl Bradshaw’s acting backstory

Most aspects of Cheryl Bradshaw’s background remain unknown

Before “Woman of the hour”As the credits begin to roll, the epilogue reveals that Cheryl Bradshaw quit acting shortly after her appearance in The dating game and then led a private life. Due to Bradshaw’s decision to stay away from the spotlight, not much appears to be known about her life before or after her appearance on the game show. Some aspects of Woman of the hourThe account of Bradshaw’s early struggles as an actress may be true.

Her [Sheryl’s] Backstory in
Woman of the hour
adds weight to the film’s overarching themes of casual misogyny in the workplace and the dangers women face in male-dominated work environments.

However, there are no official accounts of her experiences before she quit acting altogether. The film is “Sheryl“is primarily a fictionalized version of the real Cheryl Bradshaw. Her backstory in Woman of the hour adds weight to the film’s overarching themes of casual misogyny in the workplace and the dangers women face in male-dominated work environments.

4 The real Rodney Alcala wasn’t the number 3 Bachelor in the dating game

His cue number in the real show was different

Alcala is represented as “Bachelor number 3“In Woman of the hour‘S The dating game show. Of the three men who appear in the series as Sheryl’s dating prospects, he is always the third to answer her questions. This seems to be beneficial to Alcala in many ways, as he benefits from having more time to think and always reacting in a way that makes him seem funnier than the other two participants. Although Alcala managed to win the real-life show as well, he was “Bachelor number 1” when he appeared The dating game Consequence.

3 Rodney Alcala’s backstage interactions with other dating game participants were noticeably different

Rodney Alcala did not reveal images of victims to any other participants

“Bachelor number 2“ and Rodney Alcala are getting more and more competitive in the Anna Kendrick film. During a break in filming, Alcala even confronts the candidate about how he always gets the girl. He even exposes the candidate for suggesting this: “Bra sizes are a requirement for a meaningful relationship.“

Anna Kendrick won the Palm Springs International Film Festival award in the Directors to Watch category for
Woman of the hour
.

Angry at Alcala’s actions, Bachelor Number 2 later warns Alcala that he would like to talk to him after the show ends. Alcala agrees to exchange contact information, but instead of giving him his business card, he gives him a picture of one of the women he murdered. There were no such real-life reports of behind-the-scenes interactions between Rodney Alcala and the other contestants The dating game. However, fellow contestant Jed Mills spoke to him briefly backstage, where Rodney said he always gets his girl.

2 Alcala didn’t take Monique Hoyt straight to the mountains after their first meeting

He took her to his apartment before driving her into the mountains

Woman of the hour“Amy” is based on Monique Hoyt, a 15-year-old hitchhiker who Alcala met on February 14, 1979. The film details how Alcala took Monique to the mountainous region near Banning, California and physically abused her. Even the part where Amy escapes from Alcala’s car as he stops at a gas station on the way back to Riverside County accurately captures what happened in real life. But in real life, before Alcala drove Monique to the mountains, he first took her to his apartment, where he sexually abused her.

1 Laura in “Woman of the Hour” is not based on a real person

The film introduces the fictional character to clarify his message

Laura, one of the audience members The dating gameis featured as a key player in Woman of the houris the overarching story. She takes one look at Rodney Alcala and realizes that he murdered her best friend a few years ago. Next, she wants to tell the game show authorities how dangerous Rodney is. But to her dismay, no one seems to take her too seriously. Although completely fictional, her side of the story is in Woman of the hour highlights the systemic problems that allow dangerous individuals like Alcala to act uncontrollably.