Sophia Soto
Brittany Snow is having an incredible year, capturing audiences with her work in The Hunting Wives, The Beast in Me, and Murdaugh: Death in the Family. In Netflix’s The Beast in Me, she plays a key role in ending the deadly cat-and-mouse game between her rich and manipulative husband, Nile Jarvis (portrayed by Matthew Rhys), who was previously the prime suspect in his late wife’s disappearance, and acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (played by Claire Danes).
“I think that the characters that I really respond to and relate to are seemingly one way and are underestimated in a lot of ways, maybe from being a woman or being a woman that from the outside is just the wife, and blonde, and whatever those markings are that people think, you know, people have it together, I guess. I really like playing the characters that sort of subvert that trope and ask questions about why we assume those types of things on people like that,” she expressed. “And so, this was no different in that way where she gets to really, as the episodes continue on, you see even in the flashback episode that she’s not someone who comes from this world, and it was sort of a veneer in a lot of ways and really was a survivor in terms of putting herself in the right place at the right time and inevitably getting what she wanted.”
If you’ve watched the series, you know that Snow was clearly up for the challenge, her character’s involvement adding an extra layer of satisfaction to the final twist that finally put Jarvis behind bars after multiple murders. “I advocated for myself, I guess, in a way of being open to the challenge. I think earlier in my career, I probably wouldn’t have been as vocal about, yes, I can take on a challenging twist or something that you can write for me, and things like that. I was very proud of myself for being able to ask for those things,” the actress shared. “Did I think that was going to change anything or do anything? No, but I was very, very happy that they knew that I could handle the task that they were writing.”
As with any well-done psychological thriller, The Beast in Me makes the viewer question everything and everyone’s motives. You might be surprised to learn that the actors had a very similar experience, as not all of the scripts were written when they started filming. In fact, Snow only got to read the first two episodes, with the rest of the scripts being developed as production went on. “Obviously, they had an overarching understanding of where it was going to go, but it was not told to us. So that was the first time that I was trying to formulate a character without knowing where she ends up, which was quite challenging,” she explained. “But it actually turned out to be really rewarding when the character I created turned out to be exactly what was inevitably written. You feel like you’re solving a mystery in your workplace as well.”
Watch Awards Radar’s full video interview with Snow below (she previously spoke to Joey here about The Good Half), where we discussed the significance of that final scene, her personal favorite aspect of the genre, the crucial flashback episode, the moment when Nina had to face the truth, and more.
All episodes of The Beast in Me are now streaming on Netflix.
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