Fans are at odds over which actress, Jessica Biel or Elizabeth Olsen, gave the better performance while portraying the role of Candy Montgomery.
Biel and Olsen respectively played the now-therapist and accused killer in separate mini-series’ titled Candy and Love & Death. Biel’s show Candy premiered on Hulu in 2022, while Love & Death starring Olsen debuted on HBO Max this year. Despite the shows’ differences, their central premise follows Montgomery’s life as a housewife and mother in Wylie, Texas.
Things took a tragic turn in June 1980 when Montgomery and her best friend, Betty Gore, got into an argument over her affair with Gore’s husband, Allan Gore, which ultimately led to the death of the elementary school teacher. Although Montgomery admitted to killing Gore in self-defense, she would be tried for murder and be acquitted of all charges after being found not guilty in October 1980.
With the recent release of Love & Death on HBO Max, TikTok user @by_peachkty_ created a side-by-side comparison of the same scene between the Montgomery and Gore characters in an attempt to showcase who out of Biel and Olsen portrayed that role better.
As the TikTok clip began to circulate online, fans had split reactions. One individual claimed they preferred Biel’s series because she captured Montgomery’s “darkness immaculately.”
Another Twitter user claimed they liked Biel’s show better because they loved her and Melanie Lynskey’s portrayals of their respective characters, adding also that Biel actually looked like Montgomery whereas Olsen just looked like Olsen.
A third person stated that as much as they enjoyed Biel’s show, they would have to pick Olsen’s Love & Death as the better depiction because Olsen’s performance was “brilliant.”
Another social media user echoed the sentiment by mentioning that HBO Max’s Love & Death had “solid acting.”
Despite the online comparisons, Olsen revealed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that she and Biel aren’t aiming to compete against one another. During the April 26 discussion, Olsen also disclosed that her mini-series was the first to be in production and only found out about Biel’s Hulu show after the actress informed her about it.
“There’s no need to have competition. Stories that are interesting deserve to be told and every way you’re going to tell it, it’s gonna be different. It’s impossible for it to be the same. I think it was more just kind of like, ‘Oh, great. This is nice that we are both acknowledging this thing because we were filming simultaneously. That was a big shock to all of us that there was another show being made when we were already filming. But there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Candy is now streaming on Hulu, while Love & Death can be viewed on HBO Max.
