Katie Cassidy hopes Karen Read is ‘flattered’ by Lifetime movie (except)

Katie Cassidy completely transformed into Karen Read for the new Lifetime movie, Accused: The Karen Read Story.

“I just tried to embody the character and I believe there are three sides to every story,” Cassidy, 39, told the outlet exclusively. Us every week before the premiere of the TV movie on Saturday, January 10. “There’s his side, there’s their side, and then there’s the truth, and the truth always comes out.”

Read, 45, was arrested in 2022 for the second-degree murder of her then-boyfriend, John O’Keefe. She pleaded not guilty and, in June 2025, was ultimately acquitted of all charges in connection with O’Keefe’s death and his leaving the scene of an accident. Read was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.

Cassidy, for her part, plays Read in a made-for-TV recreation of the true crime story.

“There [is] definitely some pressure, but I also couldn’t let myself go there because it would get in my head,” Cassidy said. We to put himself in Read’s shoes. “There’s a part of me that shows up in every character I play, of course, but I wanted to do it [Karen] justice, and I think I did it.

Read was not involved in the production of Accusedalthough Cassidy hopes she will be happy with the final cut.

“I hope she’s proud of it in some way,” Cassidy said. “I hope she is flattered by my portrait of her.”

According to the actress, she approached the role differently from how she usually prepares to play TV and film characters.

“Normally I approach the material, read a script, do a script analysis and construct a backstory, but in this case, because it’s a real story, I didn’t really do that,” Cassidy explained. “I had to inundate myself with as much research as I could, then let it go, trust myself and jump into it.”

Cassidy further congratulated Accused director Linda Lisa HayterThe support of to bring the film to life.

“Our director, Linda-Lisa Hayter, was fantastic. She was my rock during filming,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without her. She was fantastic because… it was very intense and emotional.”

While Accused highlights Read’s story, Cassidy also hopes the film will pay homage to the late O’Keefe.

“From what I learned, he was a truly wonderful man and he even took in his sister’s children and was their parent because he had lost his sister,” Cassidy said. “So, you know, such a good person’s life was lost here, and that’s why I think it was important for us to recognize that and bring that to light. I hope it honors his life in some way, and that was really important to us and the producers.”

From the packaging Accused, Certainly it must have taken Cassidy a moment to separate yourself from the character.

“I feel like I’m still decompressing from all of this,” she said. We. “It takes time, that’s for sure, [and with] physically and in manners… it stayed with me longer.

THE Gossip Girl one elder further pointed out that letting go of a character is similar to “mourning” a death.

“I know it might sound weird or morbid, but it’s, in a way, like mourning the death of a character,” Cassidy added. “You have to let go, then refocus, decompress and come back down to earth, and it’s a bit of a process.”

Accused: Karen Read’s Story Lifetime premieres on Saturday, January 10 at 8 p.m. ET.