Entertainment TV Renée Zellweger Is Unrecognizable as Convicted Killer Pam Hupp on Set of 'The Thing About Pam' In The Thing About Pam, Renee Zellweger plays Pamela Hupp, who is currently charged with the 2011 murder of her friend Betsy Faria, for which she allegedly framed Betsy's husband Russell By Glenn Garner Glenn Garner Glenn Garner is a form writer-reporter who worked heavily with PEOPLE's Movies and TV verticals. He left PEOPLE in 2023. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 15, 2021 08:09PM EDT Photo: MEGA Renée Zellweger is getting deep into character for her upcoming limited series The Thing About Pam. The four-time Golden Globe winner, 52, was unrecognizable this week as she was transformed into convicted killer Pamela Hupp, on the New Orleans set of the NBC miniseries, which will recount the wild murder and cover-up plot for which Hupp was charged in July. She donned a number of face and body prosthetics to resemble her real-life character, layered under a blue and purple windbreaker, with her blonde hair in a lob haircut. Hupp was charged this summer for the 2011 murder of her friend Elizabeth "Betsy" Faria, who made Hupp the beneficiary of a $150,000 life insurance policy in her final days. She's also accused of framing Betsy's husband Russell Faria for the murder. Police "didn't look at Pam Hupp at all," Betsy's daughter Mariah Day told PEOPLE in 2017 of the original investigation. Russell was arrested and charged with his wife's death, serving more than two years in prison before he was acquitted in 2015, as his defense attorneys pointed to Hupp as an alternate suspect. Pam Hupp. St. Charles County Prosecutor's Office Woman Accused of Killing Her Friend, Then Framing Victim's Husband, Who Spent Years in Prison Hupp is currently serving a life sentence for the 2016 murder of Louis Gumpenberger, which prosecutors allege was part of a plot to divert attention away from her and back to Russell in his wife's death. Although Hupp took the guilty plea to avoid the death sentence, the bizarre incident led Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood to look at her for Betsy's murder, for which Wood said he's seeking the death penalty during a July news conference. Hupp's lawyer did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment about the allegations. RELATED VIDEO: Missouri Woman Allegedly Killed Man to Frame Another Who Questioned Her Role in His Wife's Unsolved 2011 Murder Zellweger was cast as Hupp in February, making her network television debut in the six-episode limited series, while also serving as an executive producer through her banner Big Picture Co. The cast is rounded out by Katy Mixon as Betsy, Glenn Fleshler as Russel, Gideon Adlon as Mariah, Josh Duhamel as Russell's defense attorney Joel Schwartz and Judy Greer as Leah Askey, the prosecutor who tried Russell twice for his wife's murder.