The Act is available through Crave in Canada and Hulu in the U.S. And Joey King, unrecognizable in childlike clothing and a shaved. King spoke with q's Tom Power about what drew her to Gypsy's story, how she prepared for the role and why it's a bold new step in her career. As always with true crimea genre in which we often know how the story endsthe gratification of The Act is in the telling. It's a dark turn for King, who had to transform herself both mentally and physically to play the character. In The Act, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is played by 19-year-old Joey King, who's best known for her roles in rom-coms and teen movies like Ramona and Beezus and The Kissing Booth. Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy and made Gypsy pretend to suffer from multiple diseases for years on end.

Police found Dee Dee stabbed to death in her house and less than 48 hours later, Gypsy and her boyfriend were arrested for her mother's murder. Joey King is currently receiving critical acclaim for her starring role, which is based on the shocking true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee.

Dee Dee insisted that her daughter Gypsy had asthma, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy and cancer - none of it was true.Īfter undergoing numerous unnecessary medical treatments and being forced to use a wheelchair and feeding tube, Gypsy snapped. Dee Dee had a psychological disorder called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a caregiver fabricates, exaggerates or otherwise induces illness in a person under their care, typically their child.

Joey king the act true story