Anne Hathaway’s Next Role Is a Real Texas Mother Who Talked Her Way Out of a Serial Killer’s Car After Eight Hours, Then Befriended Him on Death Row

In 1981, a Texas mother named Margy Palm spent eight hours held captive by one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. She talked her way to freedom by praying with him, then kept visiting him in prison until the day he was executed.

AI-generated illustration related to the story of Margy Palm and her encounter with a serial killer in 1981 — An AI-generated illustration evoking the story of Margy Palm, a Texas mother who survived a 1981 encounter with a serial killer.

Stephen Morin was accused of more crimes than Ted Bundy when he abducted Margy Palm outside a Kmart on December 11, 1981, as she shopped for Christmas gifts. She was the last woman he ever kidnapped.

AI-generated illustration related to the story of Margy Palm and a serial killer in 1981 Texas — An AI-generated illustration evoking the story of Margy Palm, the Texas mother who survived eight hours in a serial killer’s car in 1981.

Palm spent eight hours as his hostage before appealing to his conscience through her faith, and he let her go. What followed was a friendship that outlasted her captivity: she visited him more than a dozen times in prison before he was executed by lethal injection in 1985 at age 34.

Anne Hathaway at The Odyssey photocall at the IET Building in London — Anne Hathaway poses at The Odyssey photocall, held at the IET Building in London on July 5, 2026. Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair / Getty Images.

Hathaway plays Palm in “Fear Not,” a six-part Paramount+ limited series she’s also executive producing expected out in 2027. It’s based on the 2023 Vanity Fair article by Emma Miller, and the real Margy, Bart, and Noelle Palm are among the producers.

The role is a rare one for Hathaway, who has spent most of her career in film since winning an Oscar for “Les Misérables.” Bash Doran, who wrote “Boardwalk Empire,” penned the series.