After years of speculation on who will play mushroom murderer Erin Patterson on the silver screen, Hollywood actress Melanie Lynskey has officially been unveiled as the leading lady of a new crime drama Mushroom Murders.
The crime drama series, which is currently in production and will be released on Paramount+ next year, will follow the 97 days between the fatal lunch that killed three people in 2023 and her arrest.
“Unbeknown to her guests, Patterson allegedly prepared the foot with highly toxic death cap mushrooms, resulting in the deaths of three guests,” a release from the streaming service said after Melanie’s casting was announced.
While no other casting choices has been announced, the series is being produced by Soapbox Pictures, who recently released the critically acclaimed ABC limited series Dustfall.
Prior to playing Erin Patterson, Melanie has starred alongside Reece Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama, and played Shauna in the hit series Yellowjackets.
Who else could be playing Patterson?
Since Patterson was sentenced last year, the world’s biggest streaming platforms are already fighting it out to be the first TV network to turn the mushroom murders into an unmissable true crime TV series.
Previously, a source told Woman’s Day Netflix was cooking up a telemovie about Patterson’s deadly July 2023 lunch, and had earmarked Australian actress Mandy McElhinney to play Patterson.
“Mandy’s perfect for the role of Erin Patterson,” an insider told Woman’s Day.
“She’s very talented and experienced with dramatic roles… and who could ever forget her breakout role as Rhonda the safe driver!”
Along with roles in Love Child, Paper Giants and House Of Hancock, Mandy, 54, is best known for playing Rhonda in a series of insurance adverts since 2011.
THE MUSHROOM TRIAL
At the time Patterson recieved her life sentence, legendary actress Miriam Margolyes joked that she’d be throwning her hat in the ring to portray the notorious killer too.
“I’d love to play Erin Patterson,” Miriam chuckled to Woman’s Day. “I hope they never let her out of prison, I don’t want her opening a cafe!”
Over at rival streamer Stan, a three-part docu/drama called Revealed: Death Cap Murders was released in September last year.
Death Cap promised “exclusive access” into the investigation and trial of Erin Patterson, and will explore how “a seemingly ordinary family lunch becomes a global media story when four guests fall critically ill, with three later dying”, the teaser reads.
Stan also promises the documentary will explore the fairness of Erin Patterson’s trial amid the global media frenzy surrounding it.
Since the trial began in late April 2025, the prosecution and defence has explored whether the 50-year-old intentionally used death cap mushrooms in the beef Wellington that killed Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson.
Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, 71, survived the deadly lunch, and testified at the trial.
“She just seemed like an ordinary person, I don’t know how to describe it,” he told the court on May 6, 2025.
Other topics discussed during the trial include Erin’s history of foraging for mushrooms, her relationships with the victims and her ex-husband Simon Patterson, and Erin’s symptoms after the lunch and her movements in the days after.
