Strange Darling Star Willa Fitzgerald Hones Her Killer Instincts

“Do you have any idea the kind of risks a woman like me takes every time she agrees to have a little fun?” In Strange Darling, the twisted thriller directed by JT Mollner, a character identified only as “the Lady,” played by actor Willa Fitzgerald, delivers this line with a sultry kind of melancholy. She's sitting in a car next to “the Demon” (Kyle Gallner), a man with whom she's planning to have a one-night stand. What begins as an evening romp turns into a serial killer's vicious murder spree, with Fitzgerald brilliantly at the helm of the film (which also marks actor Giovanni Ribisi's debut as a cinematographer). The Nashville native has taken on a range of roles and projects in the past, from 2019's The Goldfinch, alongside Nicole Kidman, to the high-octane series Reacher. But Strange Darling sees the 33-year-old take on a new kind of character—one who appears to be the heroine in one scene, but very well could be the most terrifying villain in another.

How did you prepare to play such a violent role as the Lady in Strange Darling?

I didn’t train at all physically, but a big part of understanding the Lady came from watching a lot of weird YouTube videos about raccoons. I think raccoons are misunderstood. They’re an urban wild animal, and there are a lot of videos of people goading them, and the raccoons react in an explosive way, driven by survival. I was like, “That’s the Lady!”

Did you always want to be an actor?

No. I’m an introvert. I was never somebody who was putting plays on for their family. I was the kid with a whole story in my brain playing by myself. I found refuge in imagined worlds. But then I started doing this thing called Forensics, which is a kind of competitive acting—different teams from different schools compete. The first time I did it, in the fifth grade, I progressed to the finals and I burst into tears. One of the parents said, “It’s like the Oscars.”

I was a psychology major at Yale, but I was also doing three plays a semester. Theater is a specific sort of high. I’ve always felt like a junkie chasing that feeling. Eventually, I realized that I didn’t want to be writing research papers—becoming an actor felt undeniable.

Do you have a favorite reality show?

Love Is Blind. In most reality shows, people are screaming at each other. But there’s something captivating about watching people have an entire experience of intimacy with a barrier between them. And that intimacy inexplicably turns into a feeling of love.

Are you similar to any animal?

I was an Arctic fox in one of the only acting classes I took at Yale. Choosing our animal was one of the witchier things I’ve ever dabbled in: The animal picks you. The Arctic fox just came to me. It’s a fox engineered by nature to survive in a white landscape. And yes, I killed animals for food. Not real animals—just in my mind.

We’re back to the Lady. She’s a serial killer.

I disagree! She’s an animal trying to survive.

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.

Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.