#Dennis Quaid to Play Serial Killer in ‘Happy Face’ at Paramount+

Paramount+’s drama Happy Face has found its title star.

Dennis Quaid will star with Annaleigh Ashford in the series and will play very much against type in the role of a notorious serial killer nicknamed “Happy Face” because he drew smiley faces on evidence in boasting about his crimes. The series, from executive producers Robert and Michelle King (Evil, The Good Fight) and showrunner Jennifer Cacicio, is based on the real-life story of Melissa Moore, the daughter of the killer; the true-crime podcast Happy Face, from iHeartPodcasts and Moore; and Moore’s autobiography Shattered Silence, written with M. Bridget Cook.

The show will use Moore’s story as a jumping-off point to tell a story of how Melissa (Ashford) is drawn back into her father’s world after decades of not having contact with him. Happy Face (Quaid), in prison for his crimes, finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed, while also discovering the impact her father had on his victims’ families and facing a reckoning with her own identity.

Quaid is coming off another Paramount+ series, Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The Emmy and Golden Globe nominee’s recent work also includes Max’s Full Circle and feature films Blue Miracle, Strange World and Midway. He also recently completed production on Reagan, a biopic in which he plays the 40th president of the United States.

CBS Studios is producing Happy Face — which was ordered to series back in 2021 — in association with King Size Productions, iHeartPodcasts and Semi-Formal Productions. Cacicio (Showtime’s Your Honor) serves as showrunner and executive produces with the Kings, Liz Glotzer, Melissa Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Michael Showalter (who is directing the first episode) and Jordana Mollick.