‘Painkiller’ vs. ‘Dopesick’ Characters: How Netflix & Hulu Tackle Same Sackler Story (PHOTOS)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Netflix’s Painkiller.]
Painkiller will feel familiar for those who have already seen Dopesick. The six-episode limited series premiered on Netflix on Thursday, August 10, and like the 2021 Hulu drama, it depicts the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Both series are based on true events, and feature members of the Sackler family (the family behind Purdue Pharma and the creation of OxyContin) and the legal teams dedicated to taking them down. Each also created fictional characters that represent the real lived experiences of people addicted to Oxy, the Purdue Pharma sales reps who pushed the drug, and more, although Painkiller does include introductions from real families of people who died of OxyContin overdoses at the beginning of each episode.
Painkiller and Dopesick are both based on books about the opioid crisis. The former is based on Pain Killer by Barry Meier, the latter Dopesick by Beth Macy. And while the shows are different in how they tell these stories, their real-life characters and the fictionalized ones have a lot in common.
Get to know the characters of Painkiller vs. Dopesick in the gallery below.
Painkiller, Limited Series, Available Now, Netflix
Purdue Pharma President Richard Sackler
Richard Sackler is the big, bad villain of Painkiller and Dopesick. In real life and in the shows, Richard is the man behind the creation of OxyContin and its subsequent epidemic. He and his family made billions off of the drug, “heroin in pill form,” while countless people became addicted to it. Matthew Broderick plays Richard in Painkiller, with Michael Stuhlbarg plays him in Dopesick. Broderick’s billionaire is more like a cartoon villain, whereas you understand Stuhlbarg’s motivations more in the Hulu adaptation. Both are still evil.
The Sackler Family
Richard became head of the family company, Purdue Pharma, after Arthur M. Sackler, who’s credited as creating the pharmaceutical sales industry as we know it.
The Government Worker on a Moral Mission
Uzo Aduba‘s character, Edie Flowers, was made for Painkiller, but is inspired by several real people connected to the lawsuits filed against Purdue Pharma. Edie, a lawyer at the U.S. Attorney’s office in western Virginia, is comparable to Rosario Dawson‘s DEA agent Bridget Meyer (also fictionalized for Dopesick‘s story), whose commitment to taking down Purdue became a matter a personal importance. Both of their professional experiences trying to end the crisis bleed into their personal lives, though for Edie it has a more positive effect in the end in one regard.
The Lawyers Taking on Purdue Pharma
Dopesick made main characters out of the real-life lawyers from the Roanoke U.S. Attorney’s office that took on Purdue. Peter Sarsgaard played Rick Mountcastle alongside John Hoogenakker as Randy Ramseyer in Dopesick. Rick and Randy aren’t depicted in Painkiller, but Edie is undoubtedly based on them, even if loosely.
The Victims
The fictional characters played by Taylor Kitsch and Kaitlyn Dever were created for Painkiller and Dopesick respectively, but inspired by the real stories of innocent people who became addicted to OxyContin after it was prescribed to treat a bad work injury. Kitsch’s Glen Kryger runs an auto repair shop with his wife, Lily (Carolina Bartczak). His step-son, Tyler (Jack Mulhern) causes the accident that injures Glen. Dever’s Betsy Mallum was injured while working in a coal mine in West Virginia. OxyContin completely unravels both of their lives.
The Victims' Families
Both dramas show not only the effects of OxyContin addiction for those afflicted by it, but also the effects of addiction on their families. Bartczak plays Glen’s wife, Lily, in Painkiller, who has to take sad measures to shield her kids from Glen’s addiction. In Dopesick, the affected family is Betsy’s parents, Jerry and Diane Mallum, played by Ray McKinnon and Mare Winningham. They try to help their daughter get clean.
The Critical Doctor
Michael Keaton won an Emmy for his starring role in Dopesick, but doctors are not the main characters in Painkiller. There is, however, one suppor character similar to Keaton’s Dr. Samuel Finnix in the Netflix series: John Ales‘ Dr. Gregory Fitzgibbons.
Gregory is the one doctor that’s adamantly against prescribing OxyContin in the series. Like Sam and Betsy, Gregory has a patient he’s known since she was born who becomes addicted to Oxy. Also like Sam, her experiences with the drug galvanize him into action. Two teen girls the respective doctors try to help even have similar names: Jessica Ann (Painkiller) and Elizabeth Ann (Dopesick).
The Sales Reps Without a Conscience
Dina Shihabi‘s Britt Hufford (Painkiller) and Phillipa Soo‘s Amber Collins (Dopesick) are the money-driven sales reps crushing it at Purdue Pharma. They each take up-and-coming sales reps Shannon (West Duchovny) and Billy (Will Poulter) under their wing, funneling Purdue’s Oxy propaganda into their heads to absolve themselves of wrongdoing for selling the drug en masse and manipulating doctors into increasing doses (titrating) so they can get bigger bonuses. They both love their big apartments and fancy cars and are hard-pressed to show a conscience in the end.
The Sales Reps Who Grow a Conscience
Like Britt and Amber, Shannon Shaeffer and Billy Cutler were characters made for their respective series. Unlike Britt and Amber, Shannon and Billy grow to regret their work as Purdue Pharma sales reps and take steps to atone, but that only comes after they’ve already spent years getting rich off the sales of Oxy.
John Brownlee, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
John Brownlee was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia who worked closely with Mountcastle and Ramseyer on the legal case against Purdue Pharma and its top executives. Tyler Ritter plays him in Painkiller in a smaller supporting role, whereas Jake McDorman‘s supporting character is seen much more often.
Arthur M. Sackler, Sackler Family Patriarch
The portrayals of Arthur M. Sackler are where Painkiller and Dopesick differ most. In Dopesick, Kenneth Tigar’s Arthur is barely seen. In Painkiller, Clark Gregg‘s Arthur appears as a ghost haunting Broderick’s Richard throughout his years as the head of Purdue.
Raymond Sackler, Richard Sackler's Father
Raymond is seen more often in Painkiller than in Dopesick. In the former, he appears both as an old man (played by Sam Anderson) and in flashback (played by Daniel Henkel). Dopesick‘s Raymond is played by Lawrence Arancio, seen mainly at Purdue board meetings. In real life, Raymond was a physician and businessman who ran Purdue Pharma with brother Mortimer (next slide).
Mortimer Sackler, Richard Sackler's Uncle
Mortimer Sackler is often seen screaming in Painkiller as he panics about money (not making enough of it) and legal troubles that threaten their money. He’s similar in Dopesick, though he’s not yelling quite as often. Painkiller‘s Mortimer is played by John Rothman, Dopesick‘s by Walter Bobbie. In real life, Mortimer was a psychiatrist and businessman who was on the Purdue board along with the rest of the adult Sackler family.
Howard Udell of Purdue Pharma
Howard Udell was a lawyer for Purdue Pharma who became one of the executives targeted in the United States’ case against the company. He was eventually sentenced to three years probation and 400 hours of community service for his role in intentionally misleading the American public about the addictive nature of OxyContin. He was essentially a fall man for the Sackler family. He’s played by Brian Markinson in Painkiller, Brendan Patrick Connor in Dopesick.
