Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: jason clarke, Murdaugh: Death in the Family, Patricia Arquette

Murdaugh: Death in the Family: Clarke, Arquette on Alex-Maggie Dynamic

Murdaugh: Death in the Family's Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette discussed the Hulu limited series, the Murdaugh family dynamic, and more.

Jason Clarke (The Last Frontier) and Patricia Arquette (Severance) had a huge burden to bear, leading the ensemble in the Hulu true crime miniseries Murdaugh: Death in the Family as Alex and Maggie Murdaugh, as one of the most influential families in South Carolina. While their activities are well documented with the family's real-life claim to fame running one of the state's largest legal firms, their fall became a popular subject thanks to Mandy Matney, a journalist who brought their family activities to light, and subsequently ran a true crime podcast called Murdaugh Murders Podcast, brought to life for the screen by Michael D. Fuller and Erin Lee Carr.

Based on real events, Murdaugh Death in the Family follows the family as they deal with a fatal boating accident involving one of their sons, Paul (Johnny Berchtold), and subsequent digging from Matney (Brittany Snow) into the family's background, revealing some well-hid skeletons, which doesn't even get to the eventual real life subsequent tragedy that led to the final downfall of patriarch, Alex, whose trial was covered in Matney's podcast. Arquette and Clarke spoke to Bleeding Cool about getting into their roles, how Arquette wanted to bring attention to Maggie's story as a cautionary tale, Clarke tapping into Alex's skeletons, and more.

Murdaugh: Death in the Family Stars Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette on Bringing Alex and Maggie's Tragic Tales to Life

What intrigued you about playing Maggie and Alex Murdaugh?

Arquette: Well, I liked the idea that [Maggie] was the support system, and she wanted to be a good wife and mother. It felt like she was normalized to do as a southern woman, and in love with him. They had these touchpoints and life experiences together, and she was still charmed by him. As it unfolds, she begins to see the lies, the betrayal, the pathology, and the self-delusion, so I wanted to honor women who experience that. Start waking up to realize they don't know who they're with.

Jason, what was the process like for you to become Alex?

Clarke: It was intense, and a lot of pressure. The process of getting ready was the most pressure, because he was such a well-known figure. People everywhere, from France to Australia, knew this man, and there's so much out there. I put a lot of pressure on it, which made me work harder to get there with weight, putting on the weight, getting the accent right, making sure I understood his mind, the legalities of what happened, and then started to pace it out. The actual onset was that there was a level of enjoyment of a man who's totally driving it, running every situation, charming, spending money, trying to get everyone going. The selfishness of this man. At the end, yes, I was drained and beaten up and glad to walk away, sit on a beach, and try and take that weight off.

How did you develop that Murdaugh family dynamic, working with your co-stars Gerald [McRainey], Johnny [Berchtold], Will [Harrison], and Noah [Emmerich]?

Arquette: So great. They all brought so much to the table, and they also…what killed me about it was how much they loved their dad. They believed in his leadership, and I think in Maggie's eyes, when I was seeing that and starting to realize we shouldn't have been following that leader. I blew it by letting us follow this leader, who's gotten away with so much and has a generational kind of entitlement.

Clarke: The family was the reason for doing it. Ultimately, this is an examination of a family and a family nucleus, and building it with Johnny, Will, Patricia, and Noah. It's an extraordinary cast in this whole production. That's where we found the story. You know what I mean? That's where you're actually showing so much more than just headlines and the news reports that yes, "[Alex] did love his son. They had their problems. He's pushing back. He's got to find a job." The son's got me into this problem; his boat crashes brought it all down. Never mind that I've been ripping off people for 20 years, but there are all these things, and it was so much fun to get there on set in our hair, wigs, and our eye things with our red hair with Patricia, and dig into it with a great script that brought out the whole story.

Arquette: But even like the slow awakening of Maggie to this as a support person to start to realize, "[Paul's] not going to get away with this. My son's not going to get away with this." You say, "You can always make everything go away. You're not going to be able to make this go away, and wait a minute, I should have put the brakes on a long time ago. Maybe we should have sent him to rehab a long time ago." I think she's also got some undercurrent of guilt. The truth is, yes, while gratefully most people don't end up dead, dysfunctional relationships and marriages are a family disease because it's a disaster across the board.

The first three episodes of Murdaugh: Death in the Family, which also stars J. Smith-Cameron, Tyner Rushing, Kathleen Wilhoite, and Tommy Dewey, is available on Hulu with new episodes streaming Wednesdays through November 19th.

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