Growing up on screen, Elle Fanning has starred in dozens of movies since her first film appearance two decades ago. Starting in 2020, she rose to fame as Empress Catherine II in the Hulu comedy “The Great”. But two weeks after wrapping up production on Season 3, she is involved in a more serious project, Hulu’s “The Girl From Plainville,” where she plays another real person: Michelle Carter, a teen convicted of manslaughter for encouraging her third boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to end his life.
The case surfaced in the media when Carter was indicted in 2015. Fanning is also a producer on the eight-part, now-airing series, which delves deeply into the relationship between Carter and Roy (portrayed by Colton Ryan) — the side of the story that It did not occupy any titles.
Why did you decide to take this up so soon after “The Great”?
I remember watching the case. I was nineteen years old. The media painted this situation in a very one-dimensional way: it was the black widow – a manipulative young woman – and he was the victim, which was very much. [was], but we didn’t know him. We didn’t get to know Conrad or his background or see the amazing man he was. When they came to me maybe to do this and to be productive, I was hesitant because of it [most of] These people are alive and this is a very sensitive story, and I had to think carefully if this was the right thing to do. In the end, I decided to do it because the people involved are people I know who care about it that way. I felt we could tell this story in an unbiased way, in a very modern world of something very modern: technology and how to navigate it and the pseudo-intimacy it creates for everyone, which I definitely experienced.
Steve Dietel / Hulu
What steps did you take to embody Michelle Carter?
I’ve seen a lot of “glee”. She was a big fan of “Glee”. I watched the show, but I watched it a lot on set. Reading the pilot, in the last scene she was singing “make you feel my love”, imitated [“Glee” star] Sorry, Michelle. Leah’s grief was real on the show; She’s also mourning for her real boyfriend [Cory Monteith, who died in 2013]. I’ve never met her, but I know all the behaviors she does in that scene. I have a legal notebook. She wrote each time she blinked, and each time she moved her hand with each word, to imitate the feelings. It was a real workout. I really felt connected to her, because I felt like I saw her sadness. She was very dead.
Have you spoken to anyone involved in the case?
I did not. It didn’t feel right for me to communicate with Michelle. and I know that [creators] Liz [Hannah] and patrick [Macmanus] Talk to the people from Roy’s side. It wasn’t just something I felt I needed on my part. I’m playing a real person, but she’s our version of her and she’s a character. In the end, you want to sensitize the story, but then, too, I had to remove myself.
What is the hardest part of the process?
It was a difficult process. It was a challenge. I think the hardest part was balancing fantasy with reality. This is the theme throughout our show – balancing fantasy with reality. This is a true story, and you have to be sensitive about that, but then we also have to create a show and think about things from a cinematic point of view. Being a producer, I’ve been able to take more responsibility, watch edits, and collaborate to make sure it doesn’t seem one-sided. I just wanted to tell the truth of the matter and show these people more of who they were, not what the media portrayed [them to be] for all of us.
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