'Girl from Plainville': Elle Fanning on the 'very real' relationship between Carter and Roy

Elle Fanning and Chlo? Sevigny once thought the death of a young man whose girlfriend repeatedly encouraged him to take his life was as black and white as the newspaper pages that reported the tragedy.

In 2014, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III died by suicide (the result of carbon monoxide poisoning). Michelle Carter, 17 at the time of her boyfriend's death, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for urging him to end it all through text messages and phone calls. Hulu's eight-part limited series "The Girl from Plainville" (first three episodes now streaming, then weekly) is inspired by the ordeal and a 2017 Esquire article.

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"I'm ashamed to say that I immediately jumped to thinking she was guilty just by the way that she looked," says Sevigny, who portrays Roy's mom, Lynn Roy. "It was just like, 'Wow! This beautiful blonde girl and the scowl on her face.' I just assumed that she was wicked. We, as a society in general, have a tendency to do that to young women."

Fanning, who stars as Carter, recalls the "one-dimensional" portrayal in the media of "this black widow, manipulative girl." Roy (Colton Ryan) was merely depicted as the victim, Fanning says: "We didn't get to know him as a person."

Creating a fuller portrait of Roy motivated Sevigny to tackle the role of grieving Lynn.

“It’s really important for her to keep his memory alive, and so I was really focusing on that and that relationship and helping make him a whole, real person," says Sevigny, 47.

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The series opens with Carter and Roy firing off texts professing their love. But the conversation quickly grows dark, as she eggs on his suicide. The series continues by chronicling with the days following his death, the start of the investigation and Roy's funeral, where Carter and Lynn Roy meet.

Viewers will see when Carter and Roy first crossed paths in Florida in 2012, and their sweet and playful first date. The series splits time between their intense relationship and the mounting case against Carter. The thousands of texts between the teens are sometimes played out with the actors face-to-face, conveying emotions that text on a screen wouldn't.

An anguished Roy longs to find his place in the world.

"I just keep thinking about the past: this kid having trouble talking at the lunch table, having trouble communicating, struggling," he says in a self-recorded video portrayed in the premiere. "Racing thoughts, suicidal thoughts. What I'm doing is looking at myself so negatively. (I'll) never be successful, never have a wife, never have kids."

Sevigny, who welcomed her first child, son Vanja Sevigny Ma?kovi? in May 2020, drew from her own emotions as a new mother for the part.

"The weight of what had happened to Lynn was resonating in a new way; playing a mother was resonating in a new way," she says. "I was also working away from my child for the first time, and that was very difficult and very painful. The tears were right here almost the entire time we were shooting. Those emotions were really on the forefront. It was five hard months."

Sevigny and Fanning discovered the nuances of the case after viewing HBO's 2019 documentary "I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter," which delves into Carter's depression, her own suicidal thoughts, eating disorder, and an obsession with Lea Michele, whose boyfriend and "Glee" co-star, Cory Monteith, died in 2013. The documentary also mentions Roy's previous attempts to take his life.

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Fanning, 23, says she read texts exchanged between Carter and Roy, which she called "extremely haunting and difficult to read." The couple met in 2012 and rarely saw each other, but maintained a long-distance romance through text messages. Roy lived in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, about 50 miles from Carter in Plainville.

Through the texts, Fanning says, "You learned that their relationship was very real. It was very open and truthful and very honest. They would share their deepest, darkest thoughts, and you can tell through those messages there are two people that are hurting. They both are in very dark places, and Michelle was very alone."

"The Girl from Plainville" portrays Carter as more than just a malicious killer. The teen battled her own demons: depression, an eating disorder, an inability to make friends. It doesn't make us sympathize with Carter, but it does convey there's so much more below the surface.

Carter urged Roy to take his life through text. The day he died, she wrote: “You can’t think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don’t get why you aren’t.”

Her attorney, Joseph Cataldo, claimed in court that Carter first encouraged Roy to seek professional help. But Roy's mind appeared made up: The HBO documentary revealed Roy texted her, "There's nothing anyone can do for me that's gonna make me wanna live."

A psychiatrist called to the stand for the defense, Dr. Peter Breggin, said the antidepressant Celexa, which Carter had been prescribed, affects the part of the brain responsible for making decisions and empathy.

"We're not actually setting out to answer any questions on our show; we're just trying to show different perspectives to this story," Fanning. "And everyone has an opinion. That's OK." She hopes the series provides "a cautionary tale, if you're seeing signs of anyone suffering," and that it helps destigmatize conversations about mental health. "If that's what the show can do, then that would be a great thing."

The real-life Carter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 and sentenced to 15 months in jail. Carter began serving her sentence in February 2019, and was released 11 months later after time was shaved off her sentence for good behavior.

Suicide Lifeline: If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time of day or night or chat online.

Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hulu's 'Girl from Plainville': Elle Fanning on nuances of texting case