Metallica’s James Hetfield shown on set of Extremely Wicked Ted Bundy film

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

James Hetfield

On Monday, it was announced that Metallica lead singer James Hetfield would be making his dramatic acting debut in the Ted Bundy biopic EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE – but since the film is already deep into production in Covington, Kentucky, this wasn't an announcement of something that was going to be happening at some point down the road. Less than 24 hours after the announcement hit the trades, director Joe Berlinger took to his social media accounts to share an image of Hetfield on set, in his character's wardrobe.

In the film, Hetfield is playing Utah highway patrolman Bob Hayward, "the first law enforcement officer to arrest Bundy in 1975 after pulling the killer over and discovering burglary tools in his car, but wisely suspecting much worse."

Zac Efron plays serial killer Ted Bundy, with Lily Collins as his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer. Written by Michael Werwie, EXTREMELY WICKED tells the Bundy story through 

the point of view of Kloepfer during the multi-year period that Bundy hid his murder spree from his live-in lover.

Also in the cast with Efron, Collins, and Hetfield are John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Haley Joel Osment, Kaya Scodelario, Angela Sarafyan, Jeffrey Donovan, Terry Kinney, Grace Victoria Cox, and Dylan Baker.

Berlinger and Hetfield have history together, as the director made the Metallica documentaries Some Kind of Monster and This Monster Lives.

Source: Instagram

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.