Playing the heavy role of Amanda Knox — who was wrongfully convicted of murder — was no easy feat for actress Grace Van Patten.
“It was all intense,” the actress exclusively told Page Six at the premiere of Hulu’s “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” in New York City Tuesday night, where she was joined by Knox and executive producer Monica Lewinsky.
Van Patten added that the most “challenging part” was trying to authentically portray Knox’s emotions without doing “an impression” of her on set.
Instead, the “Tell Me Lies” star was trying to “capture her essence” in the film, admitting, “That was really hard.”
The Hulu series follows the story of Knox, who spent nearly four years in an Italian prison following her wrongful conviction in the 2007 murder of her roommate (and fellow exchange student), Meredith Kercher.
In the initial 2009 trial, Knox and her Italian boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted and sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.
A media frenzy surrounded her trial, during which Knox, now 38, repeatedly proclaimed her innocence.
Knox was acquitted in 2015 by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation. Four years later, she was awarded $21,000 after the European Court of Human Rights ruled she did not have a fair trial. Convictions against Sollecito were also overturned.
While speaking with Page Six, Van Patten shared that she hopes the mini-series will shine a light on Knox, who was vilified by the press throughout the court proceedings.
“I really hope that people understand her a little bit,” the actress, 28, explained. “That people understand who Amanda was as a human being and see her as a human being, and give people an opportunity to form an opinion based on the facts, as opposed to the bias.”
To prepare for the role, Van Patten learned an impressive amount of Italian so that she could speak it eloquently throughout the series.
She contritely confessed, however, that she hasn’t kept up on her language lessons since filming concluded.
“You know, I’m really ashamed to say that,” she admitted. “I dropped the ball, but I’m not giving up!”
“The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” is streaming now on Hulu.
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