Connie Britton Explores Vulnerability in New Hulu Series 'Phony'

Connie Britton is accustomed to the spotlight, but her new role in the Hulu mystery-comedy Phony places her face under an unprecedented microscope. The series centers on a mom and high school principal who may or may not have been replaced by a body double, a plotline that involves characters scrutinizing her appearance.

"It is so vulnerable — I can’t even tell you — in the kind of ways I probably should have anticipated, but I didn’t necessarily anticipate," Britton told Decider in a recent interview. "The whole process of changing my face, it means you have to look at your face really closely in the first place, and then make the most subtle changes."

While Britton remains tight-lipped about the specifics of her character's potential transformation, she confirmed that the subtle alterations were achieved through a combination of hair and makeup, and visual effects. "It really was a journey to get there and to get to the process that we use because, you know, it had to be subtle," she explained. A team of artists worked to make near-indistinguishable changes, aiming for a look that was about 99.5 percent like Britton herself, leaving just enough room for audience doubt.

"Literally frame by frame, almost like painting in a way. So it’s really a combination of all these different mediums to kind of achieve that," Britton said of the VFX work. The mystery is designed to keep viewers guessing until the end, and according to Britton, the production did not rely on traditional tricks like dots or green screens.

The first two episodes of Phony are currently available on Hulu, with new episodes premiering Tuesdays. The series stars Sam Nivola as the son investigating the strange occurrences surrounding his mother.

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