Fatal Attraction's Lizzy Caplan: 'Covid ate my perm!'

"I have the utmost respect for the film, and for the performance that Glenn Close delivered in the role, so of course one thinks 'should I even attempt to do this?' But it felt like the film was more of a jumping-off point for the story that we wanted to tell, and I also think it's one of the few examples of a beloved piece of property that could use a deeper exploration. 

"Reading about all the work that Glenn Close did for her portrayal of Alex Forrest, and all the deep dives she did into her mental illnesses, that didn't really get a spotlight shined on it in the film. But when you get to do eight episodes of something, you really do get to explore characters in a more deep way, so that felt appealing. Of course, it's a daunting task, but why not do something scary?"

"I see her as a very sympathetic character. Obviously she does some highly unsympathetic things, she's clearly very unwell, but I don't think it's really my job as an actress to pass any sort of judgement on her, I'm just supposed to figure out how to make her decisions make sense to her. I think she is a very lonely, very troubled woman, and I think her path could have gone differently had somebody helped her with some of her issues."

"We've been conditioned in a different way, as audiences, even over the last few years, where we do have more questions — for both of them. I don't think you could make that version of the film now, where it was that black-and-white, where she was fully the villain and he was fully the hero. I think it's a lot more nuanced than that, and we're not as content just labelling a woman 'crazy'.

"Dan is not repentant, beyond this woman being on his tail and that causing a lot of inconveniences. He doesn't apologise to his wife, he doesn't seem to feel that much guilt. If Alex didn't — in a kind way — misinterpret what he presented to her in terms of a relationship, I think he probably would have just gone on his merry way, gone back to his wife and child and pretended like it didn't happen without a care in the world. We were adamant that wasn't a version of Dan we were interested in seeing — Josh, in particular, was not interested in that."

"I did another take on a very iconic, unhinged villainess in a show called Castle Rock [on Hulu], that was Annie Wilkes in Misery, and for that I watched Kathy Bates' performance a lot because I felt that Annie should have many shades of what Kathy Bates did. In my mind, you can't divorce the two.

"But for this, because our story is so different, I rewatched the movie a couple of times over the course of filming — it's just a very enjoyable watch, so that was great! — but this felt like more of a departure than the last one, so while I watched it for inspiration, I definitely didn't lift any Glenn stuff."

"There is a bunny — that's all I'll say! We do a deep-dive exploration of the bunny as well [laughs] — you get to know the bunny a bit more in ours than you did in the film."

"There were little homages that we tried to do, and I'm sure there were many more that I wasn't privy to in shooting that I'll see when I watch it! The one thing I really wanted to do was have a perm — not a blond perm, exactly the same as Glenn Close, but a perm. And I went and got one, and then I got Covid — and Covid totally ate the perm! When I was on the other side of Covid, my hair was straight again, it was really weird. I'm just trying to bring awareness to this under-discussed Covid symptom! [laughs] 

"I had to wait, because you can't just get another perm or your hair will fall out, so we kind of faked it, and then I got another one. So it is there, but it's very subtle!"

"I was! Of course I remember Josh Jackson, and I have to say, the amount of texts that I got when his casting was announced from friends my age who were losing their minds! So from Dawson's Creek, Pacey was the one for sure — and then working with Adam Brody right before [on Fleishman Is In Trouble], it was like a parade of teen heartthrobs!"