Yahoo Finance Lucy Hale says she 'had to fight for' her role on 'disturbing' serial killer thriller Ragdoll
There's nothing pretty or little about what's haunting Lucy Hale in Ragdoll.
The Pretty Little Liars alum is starting a new chapter in her career with AMC+'s six-episode drama based on the novel by Daniel Cole. She stars as a "fish-out-of-water" American detective constable, Lake Edmunds, who's working a gruesome case in London where six murder victims have been dismembered and sewn into one grotesque body nicknamed "the Ragdoll."
Luke Varley/AMC Lucy Hale in 'Ragdoll'
"I feel like I've been preparing my whole life for this role because I love true crime," Hale tells EW about the "dark" and "disturbing" new series. "I've always wanted to be a part of a show like this because this is the genre I gravitate towards naturally. I watch all the true crime documentaries and listen to the podcasts. And this show is right on the money for what true crime people are into."
Ragdoll (premiering Nov. 11) also stars Henry Lloyd-Hughes (The Irregulars) and Thalissa Teixeira (Too Close, The Musketeers) as the two other detectives assigned to this case along with Hale's character. "These three detectives become taunted by the serial killer, and they're trying to hunt down who it is," Hale says. But, she adds, this "serial killer thriller" is unique because it's also funny — which makes sense, seeing as how it comes from the brilliant minds behind Killing Eve.
"There's a lot of comedy within the whole gruesomeness of what the show is about," Hale says. "It's British humor so it's not like slapstick at all, but it definitely makes for an interesting mix to have this very intense, dark case that these detectives are working on, but the banter between the detectives, they never really take each other or themselves too seriously."
Hale laughs as she reveals she thankfully didn't need to attempt a British accent for the series. "My character actually is American in the show," she says. "I think a lot of my friends and family think I'm playing a Brit because it's set London and everyone else is British."
Luke Varley/AMC
While Hale loves the true crime genre, bringing Edmunds to life was what really excited her about Ragdoll. "My character is so much fun to play because she's super headstrong, really intelligent, well-educated, feminist, stands her ground, kind of in over her head but doesn't let people know that, and she says all the things that people are thinking but never have the guts to," Hale says. "She's really suspicious of one of the characters right from the beginning, and she has something that she's carrying with her that's really weighing on her and is really heavy; it's followed her all the way to a different country."
Throughout her wide-ranging career, Hale has never played a character like this — and that's why she's thrilled to get to show a new side of her talents. "She's definitely a lot more rough around the edges and edgier than a lot of the characters I've played," Hale says. "If I'm being honest, I didn't think I had a shot at it because this is really different for me. But I knew that I could do it. I had to fight for it. It's just been such a nice challenge doing something super different."
If "A" could see her now.
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