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Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew‘s new show, Furious, deals with difficult subject matter but makes an effort not to show graphic scenes of abuse.
“This is a show made mostly by women,” Rossum, 39, exclusively told Us. “You can feel that in the treatment of the women and the victims in the show.”
Rossum noted that “nothing is gratuitous” in the eight-part Hulu show.
“There are no flashbacks that are showing the violence against them,” she continued. “But we feel that in every aspect of them. We can see the specific ways that it shows up in their life.”
Rossum elaborated: “That is more meaningful to see the way that the history of that affects you now than needing to see it.”
Pulling inspiration from the 1987 film Black Widow, creator Elizabeth Meriwether explores dark themes of abuse and human trafficking in Furious through the eyes of several complex — and many times imperfect — characters.
At the center of Furious, which airs Mondays, is FBI agent Alice (Rossum) as she hunts for a mysterious and calculating female serial killer played by Petticrew, 30, who targets men that prey on girls.
“Often on television, we see women who are victims as perfect victims. They’re presented with halos. I really wanted the show to dig into what it actually feels like to be a victim of violence and how it can manifest in really strange ways,” Meriwether teased to Us. “It can end up making you make strange and tough choices.”
The crime drama, which also stars Scoot McNairy, Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Jake Lacy, relies on twists and turns that even the characters don’t see coming. Petticrew, specifically, had their work cut out for them while exploring a murderous woman seeking revenge after years of sexual abuse.
For the actor, that meant finding the balance between fact and fiction.
“You have to toe the line between doing the research that you need to do without exploiting people who’ve been through what our characters have been through,” they explained to Us. “So it was really delicate work.”
Petticrew also made an effort not to bring work home, adding, “You have to be able to go in and do your best work and you can’t do that if you let the work eat away at you. Our cast were so phenomenal and we kept each other’s spirits up. Our crew is also just absolutely phenomenal.”
Before jumping into the role, Petticrew did the necessary research.
“Liz pointed me in the direction of a lot of amazing things to read and videos to watch. You have to toe the line between doing the research that you need to do without exploiting people who’ve been through what our characters have been through,” they continued.” So it was really delicate work. But I am also lucky enough that a lot of this stuff is already there in the page because Liz Meriwether is so incredibly talented.”
Furious airs Mondays on Hulu.
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