Vicky Krieps plays two characters in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story – and they share scenes
Apparently it was a last minute idea for Vicky Krieps to have not one, but two roles in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
The latest instalment of Ryan Murphy's Monster series on Netflix premiered in recent days and it's likely that you've noticed that Krieps' face appears a fair amount.
Initially the 42-year-old actress was cast as Lizzie Borden's maid Bridget 'Maggie' Sullivan, before going on to be recruited as Countess Elizabeth Báthory in the show's so-called 'fantasy flashbacks'.
Discussing how she came to be part of the project, Krieps first connected with Murphy on his series about Ed Gein. She was then approached to come back for the Lizzie Borden-focused programme.
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"The Ed Gein series came to my surprise, because I hadn’t really done any TV, so I didn’t have much experience," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I felt it was very fun and almost freeing to be acting in this world of Ryan Murphy," Krieps continued. "I did feel like I’m part of a troupe. It has this vibe of old music halls — you feel like you’re part of something very colorful and very bold and unapologetic."
Krieps' portrayal of two women known to have 'misbehaved' was apparently 'right up [her] street'.
She shared: "There’s a punk component because these women misbehave, and they’re not good women.
"This is something we haven’t watched a lot in the cinema, and definitely not on TV. Women who misbehave and get away with it and celebrate life, celebrate themselves and their own sexuality and their own love, and this is what this series is going to bring to people."
Reportedly Krieps had only signed up for the role of Sullivan when Murphy suggested she played Báthory's parts too.
Monster co-creator Ian Brennan told TUDUM: "That was all shot in Italy, so we knew that that would be at the end of the schedule anyway, and we just couldn’t think of who would do it or who seemed right.
"It was Ryan’s idea. He pitched it to her and she loved it.
"Now it seems like such an obvious choice, but it actually came very late in the process."
Someone else who is working with Murphy again after starring in Ed Gein is Charlie Hunnam. He plays Andrew Borden in the new season of the Monsters franchise.
Hunnam plays Borden with a stutter and notable accent, something the actual Borden isn't believed to have had.
Admitting that this part of his role isn't 'historically accurate', Sons of Anarchy star Hunnam told CBR: "There’s nothing to indicate that he actually had a stutter."
"There's one moment in the script that Ian wrote in that he sort-of has a stutter, but it's in a moment of, sort of emotional duress," he continued.
Topics: Netflix, Ryan Murphy, Entertainment, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton