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Woman Crush Wednesday
Happy Woman Crush Wednesday my dear readers! Since Halloween is shortly approaching, we’ve picked a crush this week whose upcoming performance will be a frightening hit. Grab some popcorn and your horror-buddy, because here’s Annie Wilkes! I mean, Lizzy Caplan!
WHO’S THAT GAL: Lizzy Caplan
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: After the success of Hulu’s Castle Rock in 2018, the Stephen King-inspired show is back for another go-around. The second season of this anthology series, premiering on Hulu today, October 23, will star Caplan as one of King’s most infamous characters: Annie Wilkes, famously portrayed by Kathy Bates in the 1990 film Misery. For those that don’t know, Castle Rock is not a Stephen King adaptation per se, but has combined King’s settings, characters, and plots in a mostly-original series. For example, King’s novel Misery centers around Wilkes, a psychotic fan who traps and tortures her favorite author. Hulu’s rendition of the character positions her as a much younger woman just beginning down the path of psychopathic behavior. The series opens with a car accident that leaves Wilkes and her daughter Joy (Elsie Fisher) stranded in the Maine town, and subsequently drawn into its drama.
With Wilkes’ signature bob cut, large eyes, and strange, stiff walk, Caplan is utterly terrifying in Castle Rock and has already received praise from critics for her outstanding performance. While Caplan definitely takes notes from the iconic 1990 performance of Bates in the same role, it’s clear that she’s added her own artistic flair to the character. Not only is this Annie Wilkes more socialized – she hasn’t yet isolated herself – she’s also more sympathetic and even…relatable? Homicidal intentions aside, viewers will get to see a more vulnerable side to King’s character, including her outpouring of love for her daughter Joy and her struggles with mental illness, which include attempts at self-medication. At the very least, Caplan told Variety that the show allows viewers to “see why somebody might end up as unhinged as Annie Wilkes.”
From reading and then re-reading King’s novels to making sure she had that awkward gait mastered, Caplan was serious about perfecting her character, especially since she would be starting off under the shadow of Bates’ Academy Award-winning performance. Still, Caplan appears to fit naturally in the role and even told Insider that “there’s something nice about not trying to look pretty or be sexy, and just be f—— bonkers [instead].” But be warned: Caplan may be a natural in the role, but there’s nothing comfortable about watching her. Prepare for a creepy, edge-of-your-seat thriller.
WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Caplan found her start acting on the fan-favorite show Freaks and Geeks, which also launched the careers of stars like Seth Rogen and Linda Cardellini. A few TV movies and guest-starring roles later, Caplan landed her next big part: Janis in Mean Girls. You may also recognize Caplan from her many roles throughout the early 2000s, including leading-lady Sara Weller in the drama Love Is the Drug, Marjee Sorelli in Related, and Kat Warbler in CBS’s The Class. In 2008, the actress’s career spiked after playing Marlena Diamond in the sci-fi/thriller Cloverfield. For this performance, Caplan was nominated for a Saturn Award.
While Caplan snagged numerous high-profile parts following Cloverfield, including a guest-starring stint on HBO’s True Blood, the part of April in Hot Tub Time Machine starring John Cusack, and even Sundance-premiering films like Bachelorette with Rebel Wilson, her big moment finally came in 2013. This is role for which Caplan is undoubtably best-known: her reign as Virginia Johnson in the Showtime series Masters of Sex. Up until 2016, the actress played the real-life American sexologist alongside co-star Michael Sheen. She was subsequently nominated for a Primetime Emmy and Critics’ Choice Television Award. Most recently, Caplan starred in films like The Interview, Now You See Me 2, and Extinction.
WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: Following Hulu’s second season of Castle Rock, Caplan is set to appear in Apple TV+’s upcoming drama Truth Be Told. The series stars Octavia Spencer as Poppy Parnell, a true-crime podcaster who investigates convicted serial killer Warren Cave (Aaron Paul) after the mysterious death of the father of two identical twins, Josie and Lanie Burhman, both portrayed by Caplan. SEE! Caplan is so sought-after that Hollywood wants her playing two parts at once.
