‘Based on a True Story’s Liana Liberato Talks Getting “In Bed With A Serial Killer” And Tory’s Deadly Decision In Season 2
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains details about Season 2 of Based on a True Story.
Wedding bells are in store for Liana Liberato this season on Based on a True Story, and let’s just hope someone knows how to get blood stains out of white.
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After the first season saw Tory unwittingly sparking romance with a serial killer, the actress told Deadline about “justifying her choices” as she gets engaged to ‘Westside Ripper’ Matt (Tom Bateman) and “holding up a mirror” to true-crime obsessives in Season 2 of the Peacock dark comedy thriller, now streaming on the platform.
“I definitely thought at first, Tory would probably be in the dark in Season 2 and she’d just be dating Matt and having no idea that she was in bed with a serial killer,” admitted Liberato. “But it was an interesting challenge being thrown that curveball and having to justify her decisions and her choices.”
Although Matt claims to be “sober” from killing, a copycat in their Los Angeles neighborhood gives Tory’s family doubts.
While further building the character in Season 2, Liberato was also able to build the role’s dynamic with her sister Ava (Kaley Cuoco), who ultimately introduced Tory to her husband-to-be in Season 1 when she and husband Nathan (Chris Messina) discovered his homicidal activities and convinced him to anonymously tell his story on their podcast.
“Kaley is such a wonderful person and brings such an infectious energy on set and really took me in,” she raved. “She definitely took over the role of a big sister for me in my life too.”
Tory is faced with a life-changing moment when she kills someone on her wedding day in order to protect her family. “I think at the time when we were filming, I was like, this is fight-or-flight, and now she’s in this place of shock. And I am curious how she will ultimately respond to it,” she explained.
“I don’t know, and it’s a very nuanced situation,” added Liberato. “But she invited that into her life too. You can’t get in bed with a serial killer and not expect to see a death or two. So, she brought it upon herself a little bit as well.”
Read on to see what’s in store for Liana Liberato’s Tory on Season 2 of Peacock’s Based on a True Story.
DEADLINE: I love Tory and seeing that this season, she’s fully aware of what’s going on and she’s even becoming a part of their Scooby gang. What was it like adding more layers to the character this year and exploring her further?
LIANA LIBERATO: It was cool. I was obviously very curious after Season 1, where they were going to take Tory, and they took it in an entirely different direction than I thought. I should have expected it because that’s so this show, we’re always going off the rails. I definitely thought at first, Tory would probably be in the dark in season two and she’d just be dating Matt and having no idea that she was in bed with a serial killer. But it was an interesting challenge being thrown that curveball and having to justify her decisions and her choices. There were kind of two things I landed on when I was prepping and working through all of that. And ultimately, one, people do crazy things when they’re in love, and they justify sometimes not the best things in order to be with the person that they want to be with, and she was obviously rooting for Matt and his healing journey. And then also, Ava and Tory, they are cut from the same cloth. And there were definitely memories and experiences that I tried to dream into, in terms of how they grew up and why they are the way that they are. Ava is obviously very obsessed with true crime, and Tory has sort of turned a blind eye to it. But ultimately, I think that she is in a way, very intrigued and drawn to that world as well. It just kind of manifests in a different way, and that’s how she finds herself in the situation.
DEADLINE: And I feel like she’s probably gonna end up being their greatest asset, being that she’s a law student and she’s probably going to get them out of jail in Season 3, hopefully.
LIBERATO: Again though, it’s so funny with this show. That’s where my mind goes is, “Oh, we could utilize Tory in this way.” And who knows? But that’s what’s so exciting about being a part of a show and being with amazing writers and our showrunner is, you have no idea where they’re going to take it, and you’re just kind of along for the ride.
DEADLINE: Tell me about evolving that sisterly dynamic with Kaley this season.
LIBERATO: That was something I was told we were going to explore in Season 2, and I like what they did. I think Ava wants more for Tory than she got for herself, and I think that her and Nathan sacrifice a lot in order to propel Tory forward in her life, and then watching her sort of sabotage all of that is excruciating for Ava. But if she leans in too hard, Tory will just double down. So, I’m excited for the audience to see that push and pull between the two of them. And also just on a personal level, Kaley is such a wonderful person and brings such an infectious energy on set and really took me in. We both really bonded over being kid actors, and she feels like a good guide for me and friend and sister. She definitely took over the role of a big sister for me in my life too.
DEADLINE: This season becomes very heavy for Tory. She ultimately kills someone, which I can tell really weighs on her. Can you tell me about exploring those kind of emotions?
LIBERATO: I think that because Tory killing Melissa at the end, it’s kind of a finale moment, you don’t really get to see the rest of that play out. You’d probably see that more in Season 3. I think at the time when we were filming, I was like, this is fight-or-flight, and now she’s in this place of shock. And I am curious how she will ultimately respond to it. Will she lean into her humanity or will she become more and more callous and desensitized to that world that she has immersed herself in? Would she lean on Matt to get through that or would she excommunicate him? I don’t know, and it’s a very nuanced situation. But she invited that into her life too. You can’t get in bed with a serial killer and not expect to see a death or two. So, she brought it upon herself a little bit as well.
DEADLINE: And I love that the show is both funny and exciting, but it’s also a tongue-in-cheek critique of the true-crime genre and how it kind of exploits victims and survivors. How do you feel about the genre?
LIBERATO: I gravitated towards the show originally because I felt like I kind of related a lot to Ava. I love true-crime, I find it really interesting. It could maybe be because I’m an actor and I think the psychology behind how people think and why they end up the way that they do is really interesting to me. But I have noticed, and I spoke earlier on this as well, we’ve become a very callous society, and I think that we’re constantly, in the entertainment world, having to sort of up the ante in terms of gore and horror and shock in order to penetrate us. And I’m definitely guilty of that. It’s interesting to explore that in art, and I think this show does a really good job at sort of holding up a mirror to people and showing how far some people can go when they immerse themselves in that world.
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