From showrunner Silka Luisa and based on the novel by Lauren Beukes, the Apple TV+ series Shining Girls follows Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss, who’s also an executive producer and director on the project), the survivor of a traumatic assault who was never able to uncover her attacker’s identity until a recent murder is way too close to her own experience. As she finds links between a string of cold cases, Kirby’s once blurred reality becomes sharper in focus and she realizes that while she is the only surviving victim, she can still reclaim control of her life instead of only being guided by fear.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, Moss talked about how she always enjoys playing the characters she takes on even when the material is dark, the most satisfying aspect of this particular experience, what made this project different from her typical approach to the process, keeping track of the subtle changes they made within the shifting reality, what it was like to also direct episodes, why she thinks the audience deserves to know that Kirby figures things out for herself, and that choosing projects comes out of an intrinsic connection she has with a character.

Collider: Excellent work on this. I was thoroughly impressed with everything you did, and just could not stop watching the story, so thank you.

ELISABETH MOSS: Thank you for saying that. I appreciate it

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Image via Apple TV+

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When we’ve spoken in the past, you’ve told me that even when the stories you’re telling are dark and the of characters are tortured, you actually have fun. What did you most enjoy about this experience? What was the most satisfying aspect of taking all of this on?

MOSS: I think the most satisfying aspect of this particular show, because you’re right, I do always enjoy that part of it, was working with these actors and the two directors as well, Michelle MacLaren and Daina Reid. It was the three of us directing the show, and we were very collaborative and very closely linked. We had to work together a lot on the episodes because something that one director would do would affect what I was doing, four episodes later. There was a lot of back channeling and a lot of conversation between us of how we were going to construct this show as a whole, and that was really fun.

And then, with the actors, not only getting to act with them, but getting to direct them, Wagner [Moura], [Phillipa Soo], Chris Chalk and Jamie [Bell], who’s so incredibly talented, was probably the most rewarding thing. I think each of them turns in one of the best performances they’ve ever done, in this show, and they all do something different that they’ve never really done before. It was really fascinating to see them explore that and challenge themselves.

You’ve also said that you always try to pull from your own life when you play a character, even if you don’t have a direct parallel to draw from. What was it that first connected you to Kirby? What was that first thing that you found yourself connecting to, and how did that help you build the character out from there?

MOSS: That was actually the hard thing about this one because there wasn’t really anything I could pull from in my own life. I have not experienced or know anyone who has experienced their whole world-changing, all the time. Somebody who’s experienced trauma, I’ve played, but I’ve never had that, so that was a new challenge for me that I really, really liked. It was about, how do I play somebody whose world is shifting around them, and they are kind of used to it? They know what’s happening, but they don’t know why. There was no reference point for that. I couldn’t go talk to anybody about that. There was nothing in my own life that I could equate that with. What I liked about this was actually the fact that I couldn’t do that. I had to really invent it.

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Image via Apple TV+

Every time the present shifts for your character, her hair changes, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in major ways. How did you approach what changes you wanted to make to the character, every time her world shifted?

MOSS: Yeah, that was a tricky one because we wanted to make sure things were believable. We needed to make sure that things were choices that the character would make, so she couldn’t, all of a sudden, have crazy spiky hair, or something like that. It had to be within the world of the character and it had to be grounded as well. We also were trying to find ways in the costume that maybe she changed, so it wasn’t just the hair, and ways in the makeup that she changed. The hair is the most noticeable thing. It’s the first thing you see. But we were also trying to make sure it wasn’t just the hair that would change. It was definitely something that I’ve never done before. I think I had five different looks in this show. There was definitely a certain point, when we reached the end of the show and I had my last look, where we were like, “We’re done, right?” I remember talking to Silka [Luisa], the showrunner, and being like, “There’s no others, right? I’m out of ideas of what I can do with my hair. There are no other shifts, right?” And she was like, “That’s it. We’re done. There are no other things.”

I thought it was so brilliant because it does give you a sense that things are a little bit different, without you having to explain it every time.

MOSS: Yeah, exactly. And it was a very easily recognizable thing for the audience.

You have also now directed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale. Which was more difficult to direct, episodes of that or of this? Did one experience influence the other, at all?

MOSS: Definitely Shining Girls because it’s a new show. You’re setting up a new show, you’re establishing something new, you’re establishing a new story, and you’re establishing characters. First seasons are always that. First seasons are the hardest ones because you’re setting up a world. You’re doing this world-building. You’re asking all these questions for the first time. By the time you get to Season 4 and 5 of a show, it’s a living, breathing thing. So, definitely Shining Girls. But I also had so much support from Michelle and Daina, the other directors. I never felt like I was alone, in directing this show. It felt like it was a very, very collaborative experience. The three of us felt like we were working together on all the episodes, in a way.

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Image via Apple TV+

I don’t think it’s too spoilery to say that, by the end of these episodes, Kirby is able to fill in some of the gaps and holes in her life, and have a bit of a better grasp on what reality is. Is the ending that we see always the ending that the show had? Did that evolve at all, or did it always feel like the most satisfying way to end the season?

MOSS: That was always the ending. It was the ending that was pitched to me, really early on, before we started shooting the show. Of course, I was like, “I need to know how it ends because I need to know where I’m going.” So, that was always the ending. There were certain machinations on how we got there that changed, but that specific actual end of the show was always what it was. I don’t wanna spoil anything, but I can say, because I think the audience deserves to know this, she does end up figuring things out. She does end up filling some holes. She does end up being able to answer some of the questions that she has, and that the audience has. The surprise and the twists may be what those answers are, and do they fix everything?

That is a good way of putting it. How do you find the next character? The characters you play are so fascinating. How do you know when you’ve found one that you just have to do?

MOSS: I don’t know. I really don’t know. It’s an instinctive thing that I can’t put my finger on. For me, I feel like an intrinsic connection to the character that I can’t put into words. There’s something about her that I know. There’s something about her that I understand. And then, the other part of it is just something that I want to see, like a show that I wanna see and a story that I would wanna watch. I always figure, if I wanna watch it, there might be a few other people that do too. That’s it. I approach things as an audience member, a lot of the time.

Shining Girls is available to stream at Apple TV+.