Ella Beatty calls Lizzie Borden Netflix series ‘an exercise in compassion’

Ella Beatty never thought she'd land the leading role of Lizzie Borden in "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story".

Despite being the daughter of Hollywood stars Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, the 26-year-old auditioned for the role of the troubled, axe-wielding daughter in the Netflix anthology series (now streaming) like everyone else. She made the self-tape with a friend from acting school, and believed no one would ever see it.

But show creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan saw something in Beatty that made her the perfect person to play the first female killer in their "Monster" series. Now, as Beatty enters a spotlight of her own, she says the character felt somewhat instinctive.

"I felt that she was a bit of a wallflower who had never really felt seen before. She's also, at least [from] the audition sides that I read, she was a little weird," Beatty tells USA TODAY. "I just got her right away and I knew how to love that person."

As the American legend goes, on Aug. 4, 1892 Lizzie Borden struck her stepmother Abby Borden with a hatchet 19 times and slashed her father Andrew Borden's face about 10 or 11 times. In the courtroom…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/