As a slew of serial killer-centric programs compete for your true crime attention (looking at you, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes), it's Hulu's upcoming show that promises to tell the wildest story yet.
The streaming service just dropped the trailer for The Act, which tells the dark and twisted story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother, Dee Dee, played by Joey King and Patricia Arquette (who just won a Golden Globe for Escape at Dannemora), respectively.
What starts off as a warm-and-fuzzy tale of a mom raising her sick daughter with love, care, and attention sours when it's revealed that Gypsy Rose may not be ill at all. Then Gypsy Rose is convicted of having her mother murdered — was it an act of unspeakable cruelty, or of an abuse survivor escaping her captor?
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The trailer asks these questions and more, but our focus is on just how well King embodies Gypsy Rose in this short clip. (HBO's 2017 documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, about the crime and events leading up to it, features interviews with Gypsy Rose.) The Kissing Booth actress shaved her head for the part, and takes on Gypsy Rose's higher-octave voice.
It's the far-away look in King's eyes as Gypsy Rose goes through the motions of playing the "sick child" that really amps up the creepy factor of the new show.
"Sometimes people like to paint a rosy color on things," says a voice in the new trailer, "when the truth isn't very pretty."
Pretty, no — but compelling? Absolutely. Check out the trailer below:
The Act premieres on Hulu March 20.