'Furious' Interview: Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew, and More

(L to R) Emmy Rossum and ‘Furious’ series creator Liz Meriwether.

Premiering on Hulu July 27th is the new crime drama ‘Furious‘, which is loosely based on the 1987 film ‘Black Widow‘, and was created by Liz Meriwether (‘New Girl‘).

“There’s a thin line between hunter and prey.”

Air Date: July 27th, 2026

The series stars executive producer Emmy Rossum (‘Shameless‘), Lola Petticrew (‘She Said‘), Scoot McNairy (‘Argo‘), Quincy Tyler Bernstine (‘Power‘), and Jake Lacy (‘The White Lotus‘).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew, and series creator Liz Meriwether about their work on ‘Furious’, adapting the source material, the complex characters and their relationships, and working with the talented cast.

Emmy Rossum stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

Moviefone: To begin with, Liz, can you talk about the challenges of developing this series, adapting the source material, and creating a brand new world?

Liz Meriwether: So, it’s loosely based on the 1987 movie ‘Black Widow’ with Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. That movie is almost like a tone poem movie of beautiful stylized scenes and the performances are so interesting. What I really found myself drawn to was this weird section of the movie where Theresa Russell and Debra Winger, a female serial killer and a female FBI agent who’ve been chasing each other the whole movie end up just hanging out together on a beach for a large section of the movie. It was so weird and strange and just emotionally compelling because I felt like it’s a story ultimately of two women who can’t really connect in other parts of their life, but connect with each other. That was what drew me to the movie and the project. Then as I researched female serial killers and dug more into what historically is the backstory of a female serial killer, it’s almost always violence in their past. They are victims of violence and then they start to perpetrate violence. I think that is at the core of the show, these cycles of violence, especially for women. That propelled me into this re-imagining of the Catherine character in this series as somebody who had this traumatic past, has made this decision to pursue violence as an answer and also her search for memory, for the pieces of her memory that she’s missing. The mystery of the show becomes more about the characters, and the serial killer almost trying to figure out what happened to her. It’s a serial killer trying to figure out why she’s a serial killer at the end of the day. So I got really interested in the psychology of the two women.

Emmy Rossum stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

MF: Emmy, this is such a complex character and, I think, a great role particularly for you to play. Did you recognize that right away and what was it like exploring her emotions on screen?

Emmy Rossum: I mean, it was a gift. Firstly, as an actor, you always start with what’s on the page. Liz has a real ability to capture specificity of humanity that makes you immediately drawn to a character. Liz is also unafraid to show us parts of people that are scary. I think whenever I see a character that I don’t quite understand or something that touches or stirs something in me or that I’m afraid to have to go to set to execute, that says something about how I need to open myself up and excavate and cannibalize the parts of myself that I may be unafraid to share. So, I think this is an incredibly nuanced opportunity to dig into a woman who’s been a victim of violence, but also is very capable at her job, very driven, very obsessed, can be the best at her job and also really disconnected from her own pain while really seeking justice for the pain of others.

Lola Petticrew stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

MF: Lola, what was your first reaction to Liz’s scripts for the series and the idea of playing this character?

Lola Petticrew: I mean, pretty immediately it starts and it goes in hard and you see the fierceness and the extremity of this character. Then quickly you also get to see a very beautiful space that’s created for them to be complicated and vulnerable and to elicit empathy from people. That feels like a rarity. So I was pretty all in straightaway. I knew that I really wanted to do it. Of course, anything that has Liz’s name attached, she’s so phenomenal and her work speaks for itself. She’s at the top of her game and she’s just the most wonderful human being to work with. So, immediately I knew that this was something that I wanted to do if they would have me.

Lola Petticrew stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing this character, who takes some morally questionable actions yet is still sympathetic to the audience?

LP: I think what’s great about Liz’s material is that I just played the person and the context and the situation that they were in and why they were making the decisions that they were making. That all comes naturally from that. I think Catherine is a really great antithesis to the idea of the perfect victim, that in order to be able to have any justice, people aren’t allowed to feel sorry for you unless you’re perfect. What that says then is that there’s a section of people that deserve what happened to them when these horrible things happen. So, we in this show allow these women to be complicated, messy, gray, hard and difficult and the audience can come in with their own moral boundaries. We push them and tug them a little until they start justifying things that maybe they wouldn’t before and begin to question things. I think ultimately that’s what all good art does, and I think that’s what the show does really well.

Emmy Rossum stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

MF: Lola, what does it mean to you personally to be sharing this series with Emmy Rossum and having her as an executive producer helping to move the show in the right direction?

LP: This is Liz and Emmy’s baby and they treated it as such. They were so careful and deft in their work and detailed, and that’s just phenomenal to watch and so particular in the level of care and respect that they gave this show and these characters. By proxy of that, the people that the show may speak to is really incredible, and to be able to watch that work happen is a massive honor.

Lola Petticrew stars in ‘Furious’. Photo: Hulu.

MF: Finally, Lola, was there one scene in particular that was very challenging for you to shoot and how did you overcome that challenge?

LP: I think they were all challenging in different ways. There were things that were more technically challenging and things that were more emotionally challenging. I think that it was just always trying to walk the tightrope. This character uses herself and her body in ways that ultimately for her, the ends justify the means, but I wanted to make sure that she was protected in all of that. I just wanted to give her the dignity that I think she deserved. That wasn’t just me, that was everybody involved in this and the care and respect for these characters and this story was at the forefront of everybody’s mind.

‘Furious’ premieres on Hulu on Disney+ July 27th.

What is the plot of ‘Furious’?

Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating female serial killer (Lola Petticrew). Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur.