Strange Darling's Willa Fitzgerald on Tackling the Film's Intensity

The twisted new thriller lands in theaters on August 23rd.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Projects like Scream: The TV Series, The Goldfinch, and Prime Video's Reacher have showcased Willa Fitzgerald's acting abilities, and while all those projects run the genre gamut, the actor has brought to life characters that require nuanced and subtle performances. With her new film Strange Darling, Fitzgerald delivers a performance that is much more layered, as she has to balance mania, charm, and fear in a variety of ways that keep audiences on their toes throughout the film's run time. Much like how her character is seemingly thrown into shocking situations, Fitzgerald feels one of the benefits of the movie's shooting schedule is she didn't have the luxury of the time to second-guess her choices. Strange Darling lands in theaters on August 23rd.

"Definitely when I read the script for the first time, I was so excited by it and wanted to do it so badly, and also was nervous because, obviously, there's a lot there, and I think that that's the role of prep. I think that I showed up on the day being like, 'Okay, let's go,'" Fitzgerald shared with ComicBook of preparing to take on the intense role. "You always get nervous. I always get nervous before something that feels scary in some sense, but I think that shooting the movie ... It was a very packed schedule and we were moving pretty fast, all things considered, and there is just a momentum when you're in that mode where you're like, 'Got to go.' And sometimes that serves you well, I think."

In Strange Darling, nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer's vicious murder spree. Written and directed by JT Mollner (Outlaws & Angels), Strange Darling stars Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch, Reacher), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Dinner in America), Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul, A Mighty Wind), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, Insidious).

The film itself has a fractured narrative that jumps to different points in time, with not only the nonlinear narrative keeping audiences guessing, but also allowing for shocking reveals. Fitzgerald addressed what her experience was like first reading the script.

"I was definitely totally surprised. I didn't see it coming and I didn't totally know what I was seeing yet," the actor expressed. "I remember I was like, 'What?' And then it was really exciting as I was working on prepping the movie and as we were shooting it to just understand from a character perspective and a plot perspective where we were and how we were getting there, and making all of that as truthful as possible."

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Strange Darling lands in theaters on August 23rd.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror! 

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