Who portrays Ed Kemper in Mindhunter and what else has he been in? Actor's personal life and career explored

Those of you who have watched Mindhunter on Netflix already know how chilling Ed Kemper is. But have you ever wondered who brought this terrifying yet strangely charismatic serial killer to life? Meet Cameron Britton!

Britton didn’t just play Kemper. He became him. He studied every eerie mannerism and unsettling conversation. And guess what? That performance landed him an Emmy nomination!

But who is Cameron Britton, and where else have you seen him? Let’s get right in!

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What else has the Mindhunter actor been in?

Remember Hazel from The Umbrella Academy? He is the time-traveling assassin with a soft spot for doughnuts! Yep, that was Britton! A completely different vibe from Kemper but equally captivating.

Then, in the crime thriller The Girl in the Spider’s Web, he played hacker Plague. More tech-savvy, less murder-y.

In Manhunt: Deadly Games , he took on the role of Richard Jewell. He played the security guard who was falsely accused of the 1996 Olympic bombing. If you loved him in Mindhunter, you’ll appreciate his performance here.

Among his upcoming is Spider-Noir. That’s right! Britton has been cast in a recurring role in this superhero series.

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Britton as Ed Kemper in Mindhunter

Britton’s journey to Mindhunter wasn’t easy. When he first got the audition script, he had no idea who Ed Kemper was. But as soon as he started reading, he felt like this was a real person.

That’s when he started his never-ending research. He watched interviews, read about Kemper’s crimes, and absorbed everything he could.

In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, he was asked if all the available information on Ed Kemper felt overwhelming and made it difficult for him to portray the character. To this, he answered:

I think you set a base, you find different aspects of him. So you see the narcissist in him, so you see the pride in his work. That’s something I recognized from his interviews that’s he’s incredibly proud of his, at the very least, his knowledge on the subject. You then take that and you implement it into the scene and character work, but it may evolve into your version of pride, your version of arrogance, your version of narcissism."

Transforming into Ed Kemper in Mindhunter wasn’t just about nailing the voice and mannerisms. Britton underwent a full physical transformation. He cut his long hair, grew out his mustache, and wore those signature thick glasses.

He also dove deep into Kemper’s psychology. He understood how he presented a “normal” version of himself to hide the monster within. That’s why his portrayal is so spine-chilling. He feels real.

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Cameron Britton's personal life

Born in 1986, Cameron Britton grew up in Sonoma County, California. Before becoming an actor, he spent eight years as a preschool teacher. He worked with special needs children.

Imagine going from singing nursery rhymes to playing one of the most disturbing serial killers on TV! What a career shift!

In a fun interview with Absolute Music Chat, he talked about his passion for acting:

I found acting by the time I was 11. Chris Farley died in 1997 and it was so impactful to me because I loved his work so much. I said, ‘I want to be a comedian.’ I went through middle school doing projects and summer classes and stuff but it wasn’t really until high school… The theatre, it’s called The Jerry Garcia Theatre. It really raised the stakes for me like, ‘Wow! There’s going to be 900 community members watching me. I need to do the best I can!’...

...At high school you end up playing a lot of old people, you end up playing a lot of unique, different characters just because there’s not a lot of characters in your age range, so it stretched me a lot as well. I sort of adopted that kind of mentality, when I find a script, I like to make the character very, very different from myself – it’s a fun challenge.

Mindhunter actor Britton met his wife while working as a preschool teacher. She actually made the first move, inviting him over for what he thought was a dinner party. Turns out, it was a romantic candlelit dinner for two!

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