Inspired by the true story of Michelle Carter and her texting-suicide case, the Hulu series The Girl From Plainville delves into the relationship between Michelle (Elle Fanning, who’s also an executive producer on the project), a small-town teen who just wants somewhere to fit in, and Conrad Roy III (Colton Ryan), a young man who loves baseball but whose life is increasingly spiraling into a dark place, and the close bond they formed, even though they were rarely actually together in the same place. After his death, for which she ultimately stood trial for involuntary manslaughter, Michelle works to ingratiate herself with Conrad’s family and friends, until countless text messages encouraging his suicide are revealed, and she must face how big of a role she played in his actions.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Ryan talked about his level of awareness of this real-life story, how important he felt it was to honor Conrad, what he learned from all the video diaries, having Fanning as his partner in telling this story, the song-and-dance duet, how he’d like to be able to approach roles in the future, and whether he’d want to be a hero or a villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Collider: Kudos on your work in this.
COLTON RYAN: Thank you.
When this came your way, had you been familiar with this story and this case? Did you go into this with any preconceived notions or feelings that you already had about it, or did you just have a vague awareness of it?
RYAN: I feel lucky because I didn’t have any preconceived notions. When this happened, I would have been the same age as Conrad. I graduated high school in the same year. I was 18 when this all happened. I was going to college and, like a lot of 18-year-olds, I was not the news junkie that I am now. I knew about this, in the periphery, but also at the time, it felt sensational and it didn’t feel like it was asking the right questions. So, when this came back into my life, I feel really lucky that I came at it as an open vessel. I also knew that I was in safe hands.
When I received the audition for this, I read the logline and I was like, “Oh, that’s a really interesting story,” and I didn’t put two and two together. I went into the subway and I was thinking about it, and I came up and I had service again, so I Googled and I was like,
“Wait a second, that’s that story?” From that point on, I knew I had to be a part of this because I knew I would be in good hands. That logline was so three-dimensional and so emotional that I didn’t even associate it with this sensational story that I knew about. I was like, “Okay, these are the right people to do this, and I wanna be a part of that.”
We’re introduced to your character in the moments after he’s already taken his life, much like how the world was introduced to him in real life, and then we get to go back and learn more about him, before that moment. How challenging was it to give someone life who really the world had only met because of his death?
RYAN: That’s an interesting way to put it. It wasn’t challenging at all. It felt very light to me. It’s obviously a very heavy part and there were days that were very heavy, but I felt like I knew how much of a gift it was for me to get to know him, especially since, like I said, we were the same age. I’m getting emotional just thinking about it. When I got this, I was given a research packet and this bunch of pictures, and one of the first pictures was of him at his graduation, and I have the same picture. It’s eerie. It’s not the exact same. He’s wearing a red gown, and I’m wearing a blue gown. It’s his two sisters, and it’s my mom and my sister, but we’re both being held by the women that support us and that we love the most, and the light is hitting in the right way. It’s 2013, so the camera quality is the exact same. I don’t know. From that point on, as I got to know him more and more, I understood a lot more about myself and my younger self. As I got to investigate and get to know this guy, I knew it would be simple for the world too, when they finally got the chance to know him, in this way. My job was easy. I just had to be the vehicle to get it there and to remind people of how creative this boy was, and mischievous and impish and whip-smart and cynical. He’s easy to love. He’s really easy to love. I just knew that he hadn’t been given that chance yet.
What did you learn from watching his video diaries that you didn’t get from reading the script or watching a documentary?
RYAN: Because we do him in the show, I’ve watched those like a million times, it feels like, so I’ve run the gamut of emotions. The thing that got me the most was that he’s so articulate and he’s so objective about himself. Even though he’s a person that, as I got to know more and more, and I read these vulnerabilities shared in text, he was someone looking for a sense of self, like a lot of young people. Like any young person, you have all the answers right inside you, but they just weren’t computing. As he was talking, he just stopped a thought in the middle, got up close to the camera and [looked in the lens], and I just laughed. This was symbolic of the rest of the time getting to know him, but the minute I felt like I had him pegged, he would throw me a smile and a curveball. That’s why I felt like it was such an honor. I was like, “My God, the world doesn’t know that this kid is goofy. How could they? They only know him through the lens of the justice system. They only know him through his actions, when it comes to whether it’s just or unjust, or good or evil.” He would be talking about the most serious, heavy subjects, and then he’d just be a goof He was lively and funny. I could wax on all day about him.
What was it like to have Elle Fanning, as your partner in this? How did you guys find this relationship together? What did you most enjoy about exploring that dynamic with her?
RYAN: If you’re performing with Elle Fanning, you’re performing with, for lack of a better word, The Great. You’re already getting better. You’re sparring with the likes of Tyson or Ali. You’re getting reps in with the best. But honestly, the first day we shot was the second time we ever met each other and we had to shoot all of the text fantasy sequences, which are probably the most honest, intimate, vulnerable pieces of these characters. We were like, “We’ve got no choice. You’re my friend now, and we have to bare our souls.” There was a bigger mission at stake and we both understood that and had the same goal in mind. And she’s excellent. You know that. Everyone knows that. She knows that. No, I’m just kidding.
Did you guys have conversations with each other about why Michelle Carter did what she did and why she kept pushing Conrad Roy?
RYAN: We definitely had those conversations, but as characters, not as the theme. You’re shooting a show, so you read it and you have ideas about what the arc is gonna be and thematically what people are gonna take away. But then, you’re in the granular level when you’re there. The texting fantasies are a good example of that because they run the gamut from baring your soul, weeping, deep truths to erotic and first-time flirty to imaginative and dreamy, going off to California. They just have so many different levels of expression that when we would approach them, we had to talk about what we were trying to get across. We took those pieces verbatim. We just put those texts on screen, and like a lot of texts, sometimes they jump all over the place. One minute, they’re really honest and soulful, and the next minute, they’re like, “LOL.” We had to make sense of that, as we went along. There was really open dialogue where we’d be like, “Why do you think they’re going, ‘LMAO,’ after saying, ‘I’m hurting more than ever. I’m sad. I wanna get out of here.’ And then, they go, ‘LOL.’?” Those texts obviously tell the most about the characters, so we had to figure out how to achieve that.
Because of the fantasy elements, you get to have a song-and-dance duet with Elle Fanning in this. What was that like to do? How was that to perform and to shoot, and how many times did you have to do that song?
RYAN: We probably did that upwards of 20 or 30 times. But honestly, that was right smack dab in the middle of the shoot and it felt like the crew and everybody had just been transported to this other music video set for one day. It was so nice. I remember, that week in particular, actually was very heavy, for me, personally. It was me in the hospital, after the first attempt things. Things would get so heavy, and then there would be this burst of color. Even seeing Elle walk out of the trailer in Rachel Berry drag, I couldn’t help but just be like, “Okay, I know what we’re doing here. Let’s just have fun today.” The crew really gave us another gust of wind to go, “Let’s keep doing this.” It’s really effective in the show, but it also ended up being more of a gift. It was fun and campy and silly, and it just gave us that extra oomph.
From Little Voice to Dear Evan Hanson to The Girl From Plainville, you’ve been doing some really strong, very different projects. Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next? Is there a type of project that you would like to do?
RYAN: I hope, like any actor, that I can be intentional. More importantly, from an artistic standpoint and also from a personal standpoint, this was one of the biggest growing opportunities I’ve ever had. We shot this during Delta and Omicron, when it was hard, as an artist, to find ways to feel useful because the world was deeming you in the other direction. I don’t know. If I could keep doing projects where I felt like I had the same level of purpose, and this one being a call to arms to honor Coco and to help people get to know him, I just wanna hopefully work on that level, where it feels intentional, but I’m not dreaming about it. Besides the MCU, I’m not dreaming about it. I don’t have any plans.
So, the next question would be, hero or villain?
RYAN: It’s easier to say hero because it’s a six-movie contract. But villain might be more intriguing. I don’t know. It depends if it’s philosophically rooted and grounded.
Either way, you’d get a cool suit.
RYAN: Either way, I’d be fulfilling a lifelong dream, so I’m not gonna be picky.
The Girl From Plainville is available to stream at Hulu.