American Housewife star Katy Mixon has found a new role in an unexpected project. She will star in the NBC limited series The Thing About Pam as a murder victim whose husband was convicted of the crime before the conviction was overturned. Renee Zellweger stars as the titular Pam, while Judy Greer stars as a prosecutor. Josh Duhamel also stars in the series. The story is based on a 2011 crime featured on Dateline NBC and the hit 2019 Dateline podcast, The Thing About Pam.
Mixon, whose past television credits include the comedies Eastbound & Down and Mike & Molly, will star as Betsy Faria, who was murdered in 2011, reports Deadline. Her husband Russ Faria was convicted of the murder, but he insisted he did not kill his wife. The conviction was later overturned, but the crime exposed a horrific scheme by Pam Hupp (Zellwegger). Greer will play former Lincoln County prosecutor Leah Askey, who tried Russ tice for Faria’s murder.
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Faria was found stabbed to death in her Missouri home in 2011. Hupp’s testimony in Russ’ first trial led to his conviction in 2013, but he was exonerated after the second trial in 2015. New evidence appeared to show that Hupp was responsible for Faria’s murder, and she was charged with the crime in July 2021. Hupp is now serving a live sentence for the 2016 murder of Louis Gumpenberger. The case was at the center of five Dateline NBC episodes that aired between 2014 and 2019. NBC News’ 2019 Dateline podcast on the subject is still one of the most downloaded podcasts on iTunes.
Zellweger is one of the executive producers on the project, alongside Carmella Casinelli, Mary Margaret Kunze, Liz Cole, Noah Oppenheim, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, and Jeremy Gold. Jenny Klein is serving as executive producer and showrunner. Jessika Borsiczky is also an executive producer and was originally the showrunner before she left over creative differences. Blumhouse Television is the production studio behind the show, with NBC News Studios and Zellweger’s Big Picture Co.
Mixon first starred in supporting roles in films before she was cast as April Buchanon on the 2009-2013 HBO comedy Eastbound & Down. She also starred as Melissa McCarthy’s sister on CBS’ Mike & Molly from 2010 to 2016. After Mike & Molly ended, she nabbed the lead role as Katie Otto on ABC’s sitcom American Housewife, opposite Diedrich Bader as Katie’s husband. The show ran five seasons before it was canceled in March.
