If the toxic mother-daughter relationship at the center of Sharp Objects kept you glued to HBO every Sunday, then Hulu will be your next destination for an equally twisted tale. Now, one of Hollywood's most sought-after young stars will help bring it to life.
According to Deadline, Kissing Booth star Joey King has joined The Act, a new true crime anthology series from the creator of Channel Zero Nick Antosca. The first season of the series will be based on the show's co-writer Michelle Dean's 2016 Buzzfeed article about Gypsy Blanchard, a "sick" teen who was convicted of arranging her mother Dee Dee's murder. King will portray Gypsy, while Patricia Arquette will play her ill-fated mother.
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Per Deadline, the story of The Act begins when Gypsy comes of age and starts exploring her sexuality. The curious teenager soon uncovers the truth behind her alleged illness... in that she is not really sick at all. She decides to take back her life, and makes a plan to take her mother's life away.
The real Blanchard is currently serving a 10 year sentence in prison for second-degree murder.
"I think that [my mother] was very sick in her mind," Blanchard revealed in an interview with 20/20. She added that things became much, much worse in their relationship when she became interested in life outside of Dee Dee's home. Said Blanchard, "She physically chained me to the bed, and put bells on the doors, and told anybody that I probably would have trusted that I was going through a phase, and to tell her if I was doing anything behind her back."
The insane true story is the subject of 2017 HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, which explored Dee Dee's Munchausen by Proxy syndrome and the devastating effect it had on Gypsy's life. That very syndrome is also key to Sharp Objects, the network's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel.
No premiere date has been released for The Act.
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