Katie Cassidy utterly remodeled into Karen Learn for Lifetime’s new movie, Accused: The Karen Learn Story.
“I simply tried to embody the character, and I do consider that there’s three sides to each story,” Cassidy, 39, solely advised Us Weekly forward of the TV film’s Saturday, January 10, premiere. “There’s her aspect, there’s their aspect, after which there’s the reality, and the reality at all times comes out.”
Learn, 45, was arrested in 2022 for the second-degree homicide of her then-boyfriend, John O’Keefe. She pleaded not responsible and, in June 2025, was in the end acquitted of all prices in connection to O’Keefe’s demise and leaving the scene of an accident. Learn was discovered responsible of working a car beneath the affect and sentenced to a one-year probation.
Cassidy, for her half, performs Learn in a made-for-TV recreation of the true crime story.
“There [is] definitely some quantity of stress, however I additionally couldn’t let myself go there as a result of then it will put me in my head,” Cassidy advised Us of moving into Learn’s sneakers. “There’s a piece of me that goes into each character I play, after all, however I needed to do [Karen] justice, and I feel I did.”
Learn was not concerned within the manufacturing of Accused, although Cassidy hopes that she shall be happy by the ultimate lower.
“I hope she is pleased with it in a manner,” Cassidy stated. “I hope she is flattered by my portrayal of her.”
In line with the actress, she approached the function otherwise than how she normally prepares to embody TV and film characters.
Katie Cassidy in ‘Accused.’ Courtesy of Lifetime/ YouTube
“Usually I method materials, I’ll learn a script, do script evaluation and construct backstory, however on this case, as a result of it’s an actual story, I didn’t actually,” Cassidy defined. “I needed to flood myself with, like, as a lot analysis as I probably might, after which simply let it go and belief myself and throw myself into it.”
Cassidy additional praised Accused director Linda-Lisa Hayter’s help in bringing the film to life.
“Our director, Linda-Lisa Hayter, was incredible. She was my rock whereas we had been capturing,” she stated. “I couldn’t have carried out this with out her. She was incredible as a result of … it was very intense and emotional.”
Whereas Accused highlights Learn’s story, Cassidy additionally hopes that the movie serves as a tribute to the late O’Keefe.
Karen Learn, the Massachusetts girl accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, is sharing new insights about her case going into her second trial. Learn, 45, is accused of drunkenly killing O’Keefe in January 2022. Prosecutors allege she hit him together with her SUV and left him to die within the snow in […]
“From what I discovered, he was a extremely fantastic man and took over even his sister’s youngsters and was their dad or mum as a result of he misplaced his sister,” Cassidy stated. “So, , such a great particular person’s life was misplaced right here, and that’s why I feel it was essential for us to acknowledge that and shine a lightweight on that. I hope this pays a tribute to his life in a manner, and that was actually essential to us and the producers.”
Since wrapping Accused, it admittedly took Cassidy a second to separate herself from the character.
Karen Learn. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe by way of Getty Photos
“I really feel like I’m nonetheless within the means of decompressing from all of it,” she advised Us. “It takes a while, undoubtedly, [and with] bodily and mannerisms … it caught with me longer.”
The Gossip Lady alum additional identified that letting go of a personality is just like “grieving” a demise.
“I do know this may sound bizarre or morbid, however it’s, in a manner, like grieving a demise of a personality,” Cassidy added. “It’s important to let it go after which recenter your self and decompress and are available again right down to earth and floor, and it’s a little bit of a course of.”
Accused: The Karen Learn Story premieres on Lifetime Saturday, January 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
