When it was first announced that Zac Efron would be playing Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, it was hard to imagine, given his history as a comedic actor and former Disney Channel star. But for director Joe Berlinger there was never any doubt in his mind that the 31-year-old actor was the perfect guy for the job. In fact, Efron was the first and only person he went to for the role. While it might be jarring to see such a well-loved actor like Efron play such a wicked serial killer like Bundy, Berlinger pointed out that that's exactly the reason he chose him for the job.

During the film's New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Berlinger said that when he read the script, he thought about his own college-aged daughters and how they actually knew very little about the Ted Bundy story. "We...