Joey King Says She’s Texted with Gypsy Rose Blanchard

Joey King says she and Gypsy Rose Blanchard recently had a “nice” exchange.

King, 24, who earned an Emmy for her portrayal of Blanchard, 32, in Hulu’s 2019 true crime anthology series The Act, said they spoke via text on the latest episode of the Armchair Expert podcast.

“Gypsy sent me a message recently. We didn’t have any contact when we were filming the show, but since she’s been released, she reached out, and we had a quick little exchange, which was really nice,” she said.

The actress noted that making that series “was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.” Apart from getting to meet her now husband, Steven Piet, on set, King credited the series as being “an exciting piece of material.”

“But also [it’s] someone’s real life. There’s a big responsibility there. It’s not like a biopic, and the person’s not alive anymore,” continued King.

Blanchard — who was a victim of Munchausen by proxy syndrome — was released from prison in December 2023 after serving eight years for her role in the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.

On the podcast, King recalled feeling she would “have a very hard time getting work” if she did a “poor job” portraying Blanchard.

“It’s also so different from obviously who I am. I don’t sound like that at all. Of course. And I don’t really move like that. I really enjoyed the idea of like stripping away any kind of vanity that I have on a lot of other sets. Getting to be so challenged with a character. It was a great experience. And having that real person exist, too, was scary. But. it was also like, okay, really wanna do it right,” said King.

King noted that it was “very interesting” that the series came out “right around the same time” as Netflix’s The Kissing Booth.

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“I was so lucky,” King said. “I auditioned for The Act. I was not offered that role. I did not do Gypsy’s voice in the audition. They did not want anyone to. Once I got the role, I was like, ‘Guys, I kind of think we should do it.’ It’s [a] very huge part of the personality.”

The Act is now streaming on Hulu.