BECOMING THE GIRL THE WORLD BLAMED

Grace Van Patten takes on Hulu's Amanda Knox story, from arrest to release

- BY ESTHER ZUCKERMAN

JUSTIN JUN LEE For The Times ACTOR Grace Van Patten on "The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox": "I was so much more interested in capturing essence and portraying her emotions authentically."

The first time Grace Van Patten met Amanda Knox, it was a surreal experience. Not because she would be playing the much-talked-about Knox in the Hulu series "The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox," but because they decided to go paddle boating in Echo Park Lake. The activity was Knox's idea, the actor says.

“I remember just trying to ask questions, but also trying to keep it cool because it was the first time we were meeting, and also [I was] so out of breath from pedaling because I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be,” Van Patten remembers. “I also was so out of body. I couldn't believe what was going on. I didn't feel present.”

A last-minute addition to the project after another performer dropped out, Van Patten had only about two months to prepare for the intense six-month shoot, in which she had to put herself in the skin of Knox, who was wrongfully convicted of the 2007 killing of her roommate Meredith Kercher during her year abroad in Perugia, Italy. Van Patten had to inhabit not only the trauma that Knox went through, in which her every move was scrutinized by worldwide media, but also the strange whimsy with which she approaches life.

The limited series, premiering Wednesday with two episodes, offers a take on the events narrated by Van Patten as Knox, tracking her youthful joy when she moves to Italy, the terror she felt while incarcerated, and the ultimate forgiveness she bestowed upon her prosecutor.

The project is a major moment for Van Patten, a breakout of Hulu's soapy drama "Tell Me Lies," as well as one for Knox, who serves as an executive producer.