(Warning: Spoilers ahead)
The Hulu series Under the Bridge is not an easy series to watch. One thing that makes it so difficult is the performance of young actress Izzy G who disappears in a role that requires her to get deep into the mind of a murderer who seems to lack compassion and has a haunting stare that looks right through you.
Under the Bridge, produced by Quinn Shepherd and Samir Mahta, tells the tragic true-crime murder 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997. Reena disappeared after leaving to meet friends at a party and was later found dead under suspicious circ*mstances. The series follows local cop (Lily Gladstone) and the author of the book the series is based on, Rebecca Godfrey (portrayed by Riley Keough) as they try to find the killer.
The intricate investigation revealing the final moment of Reena’s life is captivating enough reason to watch the series, but Under the Bridge is much more than a mystery. It tackles themes of empathy and forgiveness in a way that challenges the norms. Izzy G spoke with Awards Radar about her work on the series. I am happy to say, unlike her character in the series, the actress was delightful – which only makes her chilling performance even more impressive, because what she leaves on the screen is horrifying, saddening, and enraging.
Watch the full video interview (below). Here are some excerpts from that conversation. Izzy G discusses her personal connection to the story, disconnecting from the difficult character, her father’s advice and more.
On how she connected with the story:
I connected first to Reena. I had a very similar situation with my friend. She had been going through a very similar situation to Reena. Not as awful, but for me, it wasn’t just a story to tell for Reena Verk. It was also to tell it for my best friend, and how could I pass up an opportunity like that? There were definitely some moments where I’m like, ‘oof.’ A lot of crying while shooting this show, for sure.
On the challenge of having to act so vile with her co-stars:
Yeah, it was, that was definitely the challenging thing. And I think that was a challenging thing for a lot of us kids because when you meet them, they’re so kind. None of them would go out of their way to hurt someone or say something wrong or to push someone to their own demise. We did have rehearsals at the beginning of, before we had shot, and we really kind of got that permission that it’s okay, you’re playing a character.
And I feel like it made a lot of us feel more safe and more comfortable with each other to be able to really go to those far extents because we knew that if we could do that, it would be telling the story justice.
Her father’s advice when playing such a dark, distressing character:
My dad has always told me this, as soon as you leave a set, you leave the character there. You don’t take it home with you. You don’t continue with it. That’s your character. Just stay in there. It’s not you.
Even with that advice she had a tough time with it:
It took me a while to find me again, to find who I was again. It was, especially because I was 14 and it was definitely a bit difficult. You’re growing as a person and to grow with this character was so complicated. I mean, it didn’t really hit until I landed home. I was in the plane and I landed in California and it didn’t even really hit.
On what could have stopped this tragedy:
I think that’s the complicated thing though, is that with Reena, she wanted to fit in so badly. She wanted to be a part of something, you know, she wanted to have a friend and it was sad that these were the people that she found. And I feel like with Reena in our show, a hundred percent, there wasn’t, there wasn’t a lot of changing her mind. I mean, as you can see throughout our show, beautiful Archie (Panjabi) played this brilliantly.
Suman had definitely tried to stop it. Ezra (Faroque Khan), who played Manjeet, has definitely tried to stop it. I mean, definitely, I feel to help her – it’s definitely a complicated question for sure – I’m trying to find the words. I feel like if she did have someone like Dusty (Aiyana Goodfellow) who stepped up for her, maybe things could have been different, but who knows.
On how she would handle a similar situation in real life:
I absolutely thought, for me, I would have though – a hundred percent. If I, as Izzy, was in the situation, I one hundred percent would have completely stopped. I would try to help her. I would have done everything that I could because I have, I have done it.
I have a friend who’s going through this situation and I am currently like, ‘I love you and I’m here for you.’ And anytime you need to talk to me, I’m always here. I mean, if I were in that situation, I would have done everything I could to stop.
What she hopes people take away from the series:
I do seriously hope that people treat others with more respect and more kindness. I feel like nowadays we’re kind of at the point where it’s almost like people don’t view people as a human. And what’s beautiful about people is that we have so many layers, like an onion.
So many different people have so many layers and to know exactly what’s at the core of that person is almost nearly impossible. You will never know what someone is hiding. You don’t know what they’re going through and to really just treat people with respect that you want to be treated with.
I think that’s a really big thing for me. And you can’t make anyone change. You just have to lead by example.
You can watch all of Izzy G’s work in Under the Bridge streaming exclusively on Hulu.
