Jessica Biel on Justin Timberlake's Guest Role in Hulu's Candy: 'I Genuinely Thought He Was Joking'

[Warning: The following contains spoilers from Episode 4 of Candy.]

Anyone familiar with the real-life case of Candy Montgomery may not be surprised by the appearance of investigator Steven Deffibaugh in the fourth episode of Hulu's true-crime series Candy, but what's perhaps unexpected is the actor playing the part. While Jessica Biel plays the titular role in Candy, it's her real-life husband Justin Timberlake who dons a mustache and a deputy's uniform to portray Deffi.

In an interview with TV Guide, Biel said that Timberlake's casting in the series was entirely his idea. "That was all Justin," she said. "Justin and my producing partner Michelle [Purple], they were talking. He was reading the scripts with us, and he just fell in love with Deffi." At first, Biel couldn't quite believe Timberlake was being serious. "He so desperately wanted to play this part, and I genuinely thought he was joking," she recalled. "I was like, we have no money to pay you, you're gonna be making scale." 

That did not seem to have stopped Timberlake from participating in the project. "He's like, I don't care. I want to play this part," Biel continued. "And it was so inspired." She describes his performance as a "really cool, fun surprise for even me."

In the episode, Deffibaugh is seen photographing the evidence at the crime scene. He goes on to question Candy at the police station. In real life, Deffibaugh was a key figure in the case, a Collin County deputy who investigated the murder of Betty Gore. Candy Montgomery was ultimately arrested for the murder of Gore, her lover's wife. Deffibaugh told Oxygen's Snapped that after finding a bloody footprint, "We were looking for someone small in stature, whether it was a child or a woman."

Candy is available to stream on Hulu.