Actor Lola Petticrew has taken on the role of Catherine in Hulu's new series 'Furious,' a character that delves into morally gray areas, a theme that resonates with the actor's personal interests.
Petticrew, who previously portrayed IRA volunteer Dolours Price in FX's 'Say Nothing,' finds themselves drawn to characters that explore the complexities of human behavior. "I think I’m someone who’s really interested in the moral gray areas of things and particularly of people and the characters that I play," Petticrew stated in an interview.
The series, which also features Emmy Rossum and Jake Lacy, introduces viewers to Catherine, a young woman grappling with trauma who embarks on a path of hunting and killing men she deems to be 'up to no good.' The initial scripts for 'Furious' immediately captured Petticrew's attention, particularly the impactful opening scene of the first episode. "You’re immediately faced with this massive, fierce image of this woman and a very extreme act. And so immediately it was like a gut punch to see a woman allowed to do that on screen," Petticrew explained.
In the series' premiere, Catherine, disguised in a cat mask, is shown administering a fatal overdose to a man on Halloween night in New York City, then remaining by his side as he dies. This scene establishes the show's dark humor and unsettling tone.
Despite the character's extreme actions, 'Furious' aims to explore Catherine's origin story across its eight-episode first season, revealing a more complicated persona. Petticrew noted that as they continued reading the scripts, they discovered a "beautiful, dignified space for her to also be more complicated than that, and to be somebody who was vulnerable and emotional and hurt and sort of the mix of those things."
Petticrew views the series as a reflection of contemporary society's inclination towards oversimplification, drawing a parallel to the public's fascination with AI. "I think increasingly in this world, we’re stripping nuance away a lot and we want clear-cut simple answers right away. Maybe that’s why everybody’s so obsessed with ChatGPT, but I’m not so much interested in that. I think that this character and this show are sort of a perfect tonic for that," they said. Petticrew believes that 'Furious' provides an opportunity for audiences to understand characters who are multifaceted, even if they do not condone their actions.
The first three episodes of 'Furious' are currently available for streaming on Hulu, with new episodes premiering on Mondays.