Before embarking on a successful 11-season run on daytime television during the 1990s, Ricki Lake got her start as an actor — most memorably as plucky teenager Tracy Turnblad in John Waters’ 1988 hit “Hairspray.”
She’s been acting only sporadically in recent years, with her last onscreen role in the 2021 Christmas movie “Under the Christmas Tree” (she also appeared in 2022 feature “Moon Manor,” playing herself).
Now, after a five-year absence, Lake is resuming her acting career with an exciting new project.
Ripped From the Headlines
According to a new press release, Lake will be starring in an upcoming “ripped-from-the-headlines” movie for Lifetime, titled “She Married Her Murderer: The Susan Cox Powell Story.”
“Based on the tragic true story of a young Utah mother whose disappearance captivated the nation, the film follows Susan’s parents as they fight for their grandchildren and turn their grief into action, advocating for stronger protections for children in custody cases involving domestic violence,” notes Lifetime’s release.
Lake will star as Susan’s mother ,Judy Cox. She’s joined in the film by Mike Dopud (“Power,” “Deadpool 2”) as Susan’s father, Chuck Cox, while Susa will be played by Matreya Scarrwener.
“The movie follows Susan Cox Powell (Scarrwener), a young mother trapped in a controlling and abusive marriage who vanishes without a trace. As her parents, Judy (Lake) and Chuck (Dopud), launch a search, cameras swarm the neighborhood and Susan’s husband, Josh (Jonathan Whitesell), claims he was camping with their two sons,” reads the film’s synopsis.
“But when his story doesn’t add up, disturbing secrets soon emerge, including his father Steve’s unsettling obsession with Susan,” the synopsis continues. “After Chuck and Judy fight to gain custody of their grandsons, Josh’s court-ordered visit with the boys turns tragic. In the aftermath, Chuck and Judy turn their unimaginable grief into advocacy through the Susan Cox Powell Foundation, supporting families of missing loved ones, raising awareness about domestic abuse, and advocating for stronger protections for victims and their children.”
Actor Turned Director
In addition to marking Lake’s return to acting after a five-year absence, “She Married Her Murderer: The Susan Cox Powell Story” is also a return behind the camera for actress-turned-director Elisabeth Röhm.
In fact, this is the eighth Lifetime movie to be directed by Röhm, best known to TV viewers from her four seasons as ADA Serena Southerlyn on “Law & Order.”
She previously directed “Girl in the Basement” (2021), “Switched Before Birth” (2021), “Girl in Room 13” (2022) , “Devil on Campus: The Larry Ray Story” (2024), “Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story” (2024), “Wife Stalker” (2025) and “The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story” (2026).
For Röhm, launching a second career behind the camera had been a longtime goal.
“I’ve wanted to direct for awhile,” Röhm said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “When you are a female in this industry, you don’t see yourself in the director’s chair or other positions of leadership. It took me years to think, ‘Well, why not me? If not me, who?’”
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Ricki Lake Returns to Acting with New Lifetime Movie, First Role in Five Years