What the Cast of <i>Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story</i> Looks Like In Real Life (2025)

Fans of the hit true-crime series Dirty John, adapted from an award-winning podcast of the same name, have been eagerly awaiting the chance to binge the show's second installment, and now that both seasons have finally arrived on Netflix, this is the perfect time to dive back in. While the second season, titled The Betty Broderick Story is entirely separate from the first—which told the true story of sociopathic con-man John Meehan (Eric Bana) and his unsuspecting victim Debra Newell (Connie Britton)—the story that inspired the show's second outing is just as real and just as shocking.

Season 2 of Dirty John depicts the marriage and divorce of Betty (Amanda Peet) and Dan Broderick (Christian Slater). The Brodericks' story was called one of "America’s messiest divorces," and for good reason—it ended in double homicide. After Dan left Betty for his much younger legal assistant, Betty's behavior became increasingly erratic and violent: she dumped their four children onto Dan's porch one by one, until he got sole custody, and also crashed her car into his house while the kids were inside. Ultimately, Betty shot and killed Dan and his new wife, execution style, in 1989. Betty was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life; she is still in prison. Here, take a look at the real-life characters and the actors that play them, as well as fictionalized characters who were added to the story.

WATCH DIRTY JOHN NOW ON NETFLIX

Amanda Peet plays Betty, who was convicted of the second-degree murders of her ex-husband Dan Broderick and his second wife Linda (Kolkena) Broderick. During an interview with the Los Angeles Times back in 1990, Betty said, “I bought into a 1950s ‘Leave It to Beaver’ marriage ... and he stole my whole life. This was a desperate act of self-defense.” She also told the paper that she “never had emotional disturbance or mental illness—except when [Dan] provoked a ‘disturbance.’ My ‘emotional outbursts’ were only a response to Dan’s calculating, hateful way of dealing with our divorce. He was hammering into me and everyone else that I was crazy….How long can you live like that?” Betty remains incarcerated at the California Institute for Women.

Christian plays Dan Broderick. In 1985, he filed for divorce from Betty after 16 years of marriage. Their wild, contentious case became widely known: Betty spray-painted the interior of their house, drove her car into his front door, left obscene messages on his answering machine and told her children she would kill him. In turn, Dan took sole custody of their children and had Betty arrested, jailed and briefly committed to a mental hospital. One morning in November of 1989, Betty snuck into their home and shot both Dan and his wife Linda in their bed. Betty later said she did it "real fast, no hesitation at all.”

Betty and Dan met in 1965 at Notre Dame, where Dan was a senior (Betty was just about to turn 18.) They were married on April 12, 1969 and had four children in 10 years: daughters named Kim and Lee and sons named Daniel and Rhett. In the show, Tiera Skovbye (from Riverdale) plays newlywed Betty.

British actor Chris Mason (you know him from Broadchurch) plays a young Dan Broderick. After the birth of their first child, Dan got his MD at Cornell, and then decided to get a law degree at Harvard. Betty became the family's breadwinner while Dan was in school, and continued working part time and caring for the family once Dan started at a law firm.

Rachel Keller plays Linda Kolkena, who was Dan’s second wife and former legal assistant. Betty (rightly) suspected that the two were having an affair. During the trials, the LA Times reported that Linda had been concerned about Betty's behavior for years: reportedly, she asked Dan to wear a bulletproof vest at their wedding (he didn't wear the vest but did hire undercover security guards) and asked a lawyer friend about getting a restraining order against Betty. Betty murdered Linda alongside Dan in their bedroom—Linda was shot in the brain and in the chest.

Holley Fain will play the fictional Evelyn Crowley, who is a friend of Betty’s and is married to a colleague of Dan’s.

Karen Kintner is a fictional character who is part of Betty's close inner circle, a fellow wife and mother who also has marriage problems.