Patricia Arquette, Chloë Sevigny, Joey King, and AnnaSophia Robb Attend Last Night’s Premiere for Hulu’s Hair-Raising Series, The Act

Patricia Arquette, Chloë Sevigny, Joey King, and AnnaSophia Robb Attend Last Night’s Premiere for Hulu’s Hair-Raising Series, The Act

Google “Gypsy Rose Blanchard” and you’ll find a true story about a Missouri girl that reads more like a psychological thriller than a sleepy small town news story. For those unfamiliar with the whimsically-named Gypsy Rose Blanchard (not to be confused with the brand or band), she grew up in a wheelchair and was seemingly stricken with a number of illnesses—leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and brain damage from birth, only allowing her the mind capacity of a first grader. The story takes a tragic and bizarre turn when her mother Dee Dee Blanchard is found murdered at her home with Gypsy Rose on the run, an act that would reveal there was much more to the story. Crime reporter Michelle Dean, who first broke the story on BuzzFeed, had no idea that her investigative flight to Springfield, Missouri in September of 2015 would lead to her introducing The Act, Hulu’s new series based on her article. “I remember one of the first people that I was interviewing for the story said to me, who do you think is going to play Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee in the movie?” Last night’s premiere at the Whitby Hotel gave the answer: Joey King (Kissing Booth, Slender Man) plays the role of Gypsy Rose and none other than Patricia Arquette (Escape at Dannemora, Boyhood) plays her controlling mother, Dee Dee.

A mother herself, Arquette had seen the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, based off the Blanchards’s harrowing story and was understandably met with resistance from her children regarding the role. “When I told my kids I was thinking about playing Dee Dee they said, ‘Oh no, don’t do it! Don’t do that lady!’” The first episode of the series showed Arquette gracefully teetering between wholesome doting mother and overbearing prison guard. Thoughts of Annie Wilkes in Misery come to mind.

On set, there was a moment when King had actually gotten sick and Arquette came to the rescue. In a sunrise orange sequined gown by Markarian, King told Vogue “I had a 102 fever and she stayed up with me all night and made a huge chicken soup and brought it to me on set the next day. It’s just one instance of how kind and generous she was...One of the greatest people I know and one of the greatest actors of our time.”

Another onscreen mother daughter duo, Chloë Sevigny and AnnaSophia Robb, who play Blanchard’s skeptical neighbors, were both in headbands and dresses by Simone Rocha at last night's event.

After the screening, guests made their way through the reception, which was lined with chilling studio props. Stuffed animals, glass tchotchkes, and angel figurines filled the walls—mimicking the Blanchard’s home decor. Studio guards presided over a hand painted portrait of Gypsy Rose, much like the one that hung in their real-life home. It was haunting. Pasta buffets and waiters holding platters of Champagne kept guests at ease.

When asked how she thinks Gypsy Rose would respond to the series about her life, Arquette was unsure, but one thing she was certain of; “If anybody can make Gypsy sympathetic, it’s going to be Joey. She’s a great actress and she’s very charismatic. Gypsy is lucky to be played by her.”

The Act premieres on Hulu on Wednesday, March 20th.