[This story contains major spoilers for Strange Darling.]

Willa Fitzgerald’s former Reacher co-star Alan Ritchson once called her the best actor he’s ever worked with, and that was before he’d seen her critically acclaimed performance as The Lady in JT Mollner’s Strange Darling. Fitzgerald’s bold turn is being hailed by many critics and viewers as the finest work of her career, and the opportunity was able to present itself because her tenure on the aforementioned Reacher was limited to just one season. 

The popular Amazon Prime series takes its cues from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series and changes up its cast and setting with each passing season. Fitzgerald’s exit then opened the door to Strange Darling and Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher, but she’s never been fazed or frustrated over the fact that she had to depart a series that wound up being a smash hit. Instead, she’s merely driven by the experience.

“As an actor, you never know what’s going to hit and what’s not going to hit. As far as my decision-making process goes for the jobs that I want to take and don’t want to take, factoring in its success is never something that I really think about because it doesn’t affect my experience as an artist on the job,” Fitzgerald tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

Eventually, Fitzgerald received word about a must-read script involving a one-night stand that goes terribly awry, and she moved quickly to secure the role of “The Lady” in Strange Darling.

“[Strange Darling is] probably the best script I’ve ever read. It’s really exciting as an actor to see a project that is so clear in its vision. That’s not usually what you get handed,” Fitzgerald says. “So I immediately had a conversation with JT, and we just hit it off. We both really got each other and understood what the other person wanted to bring to the table.”

In Mollner’s nonlinear, six-chaptered thriller, Kyle Gallner’s “The Demon” picks up Fitzgerald’s The Lady at a bar before heading straight to a nearby motel. Prior to heading inside, they have a long conversation where The Lady expresses her fears of Gallner’s character potentially being a serial killer, something he dismisses. However, one thing leads to another, and The Demon soon finds himself hunting The Lady by car and on foot.

[We’re now diving into the spoiler-end of the pool.]

However, not everything is as it seems as Fitzgerald’s The Lady is actually short for the “Electric Lady serial killer.” And, unbeknownst to her, Galler’s character turns out to be a cop who narrowly avoids becoming her latest victim during their motel room rendezvous. Naturally, Fitzgerald also did not see her character’s reveal coming as she read the script.

“I was totally caught off guard. I knew that there was something that we were leading to, but I definitely didn’t know it was that,” Fitzgerald shares. “Then, from that point on, the really fun work began to understand why. As an actor, my favorite part of what I do is seeing the puzzle and figuring out how to put it together and how somebody gets to that point.”

In the end, Fitzgerald’s character is the last person standing (until she isn’t), subverting the final girl trope, and along the way, she explains that her pattern of killing mostly involves her briefly seeing the devil in place of whomever she’s interacting with at the time. Yes, she has to kill at times as a means of survival and self-preservation, but the pattern remains intact until she sees the devil in her own reflection while inside the pickup truck of a Good Samaritan who tries to help her.

The Electric Lady then grabs her weapon, and not taking any chances, the Good Samaritan immediately draws her own weapon and guns her down in the passenger seat. But, after she’s offered a theory by yours truly, Fitzgerald all but agrees that the Electric Lady was actually going to end her own life, not the life of the Good Samaritan, who, understandably, jumped the gun.

“I hesitate to give a definitive reading of the character, but what I can say about the Lady is that, fundamentally, she is someone who’s seeking out human connection and is thwarted by herself. And that final moment in the mirror and that recognition of self is deeply heartbreaking and deeply freeing. So I don’t think you’re wrong,” Fitzgerald says.

Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Fitzgerald also discusses why she’s grateful that Mollner didn’t play any psychological mind games with her and Gallner in order to create the ever-changing dynamics of the film.

Let’s set the stage for how you got here. You were on a hit show in Reacher, but it happened to be a hit show that resets its cast every season. And yet it all worked out because you became available for Strange Darling, The Fall of the House of Usher and plenty of other things. But knowing how unpredictable TV can be, were you frustrated by Reacher’s reset at the time?

No, I knew going in that it was a one-season deal. I totally knew that that was the name of the game. As an actor, you never know what’s going to hit and what’s not going to hit. As far as my decision-making process goes for the jobs that I want to take and the jobs I don’t want to take, factoring in its success is never something that I really think about because it doesn’t affect my experience as an artist on the job.

When Strange Darling came your way, were you able to read the script without being spoiled ahead of time? Were the surprises intact?

What do you mean!? (Laughs.)

What surprises!? 

(Laughs.) Yeah, of course. My agent called me and she was like, “I have an amazing movie that I just got sent and you have to be in it.” And I was like, “OK.” So I hung up the phone and I immediately read it. I then called her back and was like, “You’re right. I totally have to do this movie.” It’s probably the best script I’ve ever read. It speaks for itself, and it is entirely clear in what it is, what it’s doing and how JT wanted to shoot it. All of that was on the page, and it’s really exciting as an actor to see a project that is so clear in its vision. That’s not usually what you get handed. So I immediately had a conversation with JT, and we just hit it off. We both really got each other and understood what the other person wanted to bring to the table. 

The ingenious marketing follows the movie’s lead, and it serves as a prologue of sorts to the actual viewing experience. But did you expect the campaign to be what it is? Did you know it would go down this way?

Yeah, I think the trailer is a perfect trailer for the movie. It captures the kinetic energy of what the movie is and the kinetic energy of the characters in the movie, and it tells you a little bit about what your experience might be in seeing this movie without giving anything away. So I really give a lot of credit to whoever cut that trailer. They were very smart and very specific in how they made a great trailer without giving things away, and almost every trailer these days gives every good part of the movie away, which is why I don’t watch trailers.

I’ve been watching your work for a decade now, but there are stretches of this movie where I don’t recognize you. Is it the bandage around her head? Is it the makeup and prosthetics for the injuries she sustains to her face?

I think it’s the character. The character is very specific, and when you have that specific of a character who requires that much, it kind of changes you. The Lady and I are very far apart in a lot of ways, but we’re similar in some ways as every character you play is essentially, somehow, similar to you. But there’s just a very specific ask happening with this character, and that’s a gift as an actor. It lets you transform in a way.

The word fearless gets thrown around a lot, but it’s absolutely valid in the case of your performance, especially the complicated motel room sequence and when she has to escape Kyle’s despicable serial killer character. Were you fazed or overwhelmed by this extended sequence at all?

No, honestly. I loved shooting the whole movie, but I do remember loving all of the stuff in the motel. There’s so much between me and Kyle [Gallner] in those moments, and I really loved working with Kyle. We had a lot of fun in all of those sequences. There’s a lot of extended dialogue sequences in that chunk of the movie and a lot of extended character development, so it was a very fun and gratifying set of scenes to shoot. We left every day being like, “Ooh, yeah.” (Laughs.)

At a certain point, she takes refuge at a hippie couple’s house, and she has a bite of their monstrous concoction known as “Sunday breakfast.” Did the crew make you a lighter version of whatever the heck that was?

(Laughs.) No, it was that! 

You ate that heart attack on a plate!? 

(Laughs.) Yeah, we all did! I think Ed Begley Jr. is vegan, so his [dish] didn’t have egg on it or something. Maybe it was vegan butter or something, but we all ate the same thing. That was real.

I said you gave a fearless performance, and that might be the ultimate example of it.

(Laughs.) It was good. I was actually really hungry that day, and I don’t really remember feeling grossed out by it. I was like, “Yeah, I’ll eat it.”

Well, we’re going from fearless to fearful, because we’re now venturing into spoiler territory. 

Uh-oh!

So you’re reading the script only to discover that your character is actually the Electric Lady serial killer. How did you react to that revelation in the moment?

I was totally caught off guard. I knew that there was something that we were leading to, but I definitely didn’t know it was that. There’s a double exposure moment too. You see her kill the first person [Ed Begley Jr’s Frederick], and it doesn’t necessarily track right away what you’re seeing. So I remember being like, “Whoa,” and then there’s another moment of “whoa” that happens later when you get a fuller picture of what’s going on. Then, from that point on, the really fun work began to understand why. As an actor, my favorite part of what I do is seeing the puzzle and figuring out how to put it together and how somebody gets to that point.

So I just love the Lady. I have an endless amount of love for The Lady. I’ve watched the movie twice now with an audience, and it’s been interesting to sit with their reactions. There’s a lot of laughter that comes from nerves and uncertainty of how to interpret something that they’re seeing. And then it’s always interesting when that falls away and people sit with the actual emotion of what this person’s going through. But she’s definitely not a psychopath.

She explains to Steven Michael Quezada’s character that she kills people who appear as the devil to her, and at the end, when she’s in the Good Samaritan’s truck, she sees the devil in her own side-mirror reflection. So I think she grabbed her gun to commit suicide, not kill the Good Samaritan, but the Good Samaritan didn’t know that before killing the Lady. Anyway, do you think she was going to end her own life in that moment? 

I think that’s a great answer, and I’m moved by your interpretation. I hesitate to give a definitive reading of the character, but what I can say about the Lady is that, fundamentally, she is someone who’s seeking out human connection and is thwarted by herself. And that final moment in the mirror and that recognition of self is deeply heartbreaking and deeply freeing. So I don’t think you’re wrong.

When she sees the devil in her reflection, she starts to cry, and I think she’s relieved that she’s about to free herself of this burden.

(Laughs.) I think you’re right.

As you played her final moments and last breaths, it seemed like she had this odd look of satisfaction on her face. Maybe she was impressed that the Good Samaritan didn’t take any chances with her. What do you make of the final impressions on her face as she’s being driven to a close?

There is something poetic and beautiful and heartbreaking about being seen by another person for who you are and for what you carry. So that is certainly happening for the Lady in her final moments at the end of the movie, and in terms of that need for connection, she’s not dying alone. And, to her, there’s something deeply moving about that in that moment as well.

Lastly, I asked JT if he ever played any mind games with you and Kyle: “Hey, Kyle, you pretend you’re the serial killer here, and Willa, you pretend you’re the victim here.” But he didn’t employ any psychological tactics with you at all. Did you ever play those games with yourself, or did you always approach her authentically from moment to moment?

No, I didn’t [play any mind games with myself], and I am so grateful that JT did not do that either. I have had directors do that to me in the past, and it just fundamentally breaks trust. It’s like, “I’m not a child. I understand the task that’s been presented to me, and I can have a conversation with you about it and understand what you want without being manipulated.” 

JT and Kyle and myself always had a very honest relationship on set, with honest communication about what our questions were, what we needed and what we were doing. And this kind of movie demands that kind of honesty. If people were playing weird side games, things would’ve just gotten real weird real fast because you’re already in dangerous territory. In this kind of movie and in this kind of situation where you’re so vulnerable as an actor in a lot of moments on set, you have to feel total trust, otherwise you leave work feeling kind of gross. Maybe there’s actors who like it, but when there’s a director who’s kind of manipulating you in that way, it just feels gross. So I feel very grateful that I got to take this journey with people who I implicitly trusted and who implicitly trusted me. 

From my perspective, the only way to ever play this character was with total authenticity. When I looked at the character on the page and when I thought about how I wanted to go about telling this story, I immediately started looking at it in a chronological order so that I could understand exactly how point A led to point B and point B led to point C and point C led to point D. It was to understand the emotional arc in its totality and in its linear narrative, so that it could then get chopped up and become all of these different chapters that interweave with one another. 

But if you watched the movie in chronological order, it would totally hold together because all of those things do lead to the next thing. If you started to go down a path of trickery, you’d lose the essential nature of what the movie is, which is actually a movie that has a lot of heart and a lot of emotional truth. That’s why it works.

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Strange Darling is now playing in movie theaters.