Joey King Says Portraying Gypsy Rose Blanchard in ‘The Act’ Was ‘Bizarrely Enjoyable’

She’s doing an awesome job. Joey King said playing Gypsy Rose Blanchard on The Act was “a bizarrely enjoyable experience,” because it allowed her to “completely strip away all vanity and become Gypsy,” she told As If magazine for its latest issue. “I am proud that I got to tell someone’s life story to the best of my ability,” she said. “This was such a great opportunity for me as an actor that it didn’t even cross my mind that people would judge me for the cosmetic aspects of the role. The reality is I’m proud of myself and happy with the way I look … so f–k what other people say, I’m proud of myself!”

Joey, 19, also spoke with In Touch at the premiere of Hulu’s new series and said it took “a lot of preparations, a lot of articles, a lot of reading, a lot of video watching,” to prepare to play Gypsy. That may sound like a lot of work, but she also told As If, “I have never felt happier than working on this project.”

The Act is based on the story of Gypsy and her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, and the story that led to Dee Dee being found dead at their Missouri home in June 2015 and to Gypsy and her boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, going to jail for her murder. For most of Gypsy’s life, Dee Dee treated her daughter like a helpless child and kept her bound in a wheelchair and fed through a tube. That whole time, Gypsy was led to believe she was terminally ill when she wasn’t. She even made her undergo unnecessary surgeries and shave her head, and Joey was mostly addressing that aspect when referring to the “cosmetic aspects” of her portrayal.

“Shaving my head again, this time for The Act, and playing a character so different than anything I’ve ever done before, helped me learn so much about myself,” Joey told As If. “Shaving my head was something I was nervous about even though I had done it before. I don’t know what has happened to me over the years, but the negative comments people say don’t really register anymore, which I’m so thankful for because I feel beautiful, and I feel proud of myself. I feel proud of myself for being allowed to play this character and to work with actors I admire so much.”

Joey previously told In Touch that she was very happy to work with Patricia Arquette, who plays Dee Dee, on the project. “I’m so thrilled that I had the experience of working with her and the experience of sharing the screen with her. I love her so much.” It sounds like she really enjoyed playing and being challenged by her very intense role in the true crime series.