Dylan Arnold is thankful he had Natalie Portman as his scene partner for Lady in the Lake‘s darker moments.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Arnold recalled collaborating with Portman on Stephen and Maddie’s first in-person meeting.
“What was so wonderful about that is that we had time to explore within those scenes. And Natalie’s just such a wonderful [and] supportive actor that she gives you so much — even when she’s off camera,” Arnold, 30, said about the Apple TV+ show. “She brought it to life in this wonderful way.”
Arnold specifically pointed out the scene in which Maddie visited Stephen in prison. “We had all day to do it. [Director] Alma [Har’el] specifically put aside hours and hours so we could really get into the scene and mess it up and play around and fail,” he noted. “For me, that’s a dream as an actor to not feel pressured to get it right, to also not try to get it right and just try things.”
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The actor was grateful for Portman’s support throughout the process.
“Natalie was, of course, willing to do that too,” Arnold added. “It really was one of those moments where I haven’t felt that safe to explore since I was in college studying acting. So it was a really invigorating experience.”
Based on Laura Lippman‘s 2019 novel of the same name, Lady in the Lake is centered on the murder of a young Jewish girl and the disappearance of a Black woman, which inspires Portman’s character, Maddie, to look into the potential connection between the cases. Arnold, meanwhile, plays an employee at a fish store who becomes the prime suspect in Tessie’s death — despite denying that he was the one who killed her.
The newest episode of the drama saw Maddie and Stephen sharing several tension-filled moments. Once Stephen asked Maddie to visit him, the pair discussed how she was able to find Tessie’s body near the lake since that was a spot that meant something to both of them. Stephen subsequently escaped from prison — and went straight to Maddie’s home.
“When he goes to her apartment, it’s that final push to try to find that connection [with someone else]. But he wants to find a little redemption. He’s trying to look for forgiveness and he’s on his spiritual journey to redemption,” Arnold detailed. “I think that Maddie is clearly the first person who has shown any sort of interest in him in a long time. So I think it’s really easy for him to get attached to her and just want that forgiveness from her. Because even though he doesn’t know her, he feels like he does.”
The scene is the perfect example of two people experiencing a conversation very differently. While Stephen thought Maddie was someone he could reach out to, she was terrified by him showing up at her apartments. Stephen’s attempt to gain comfort from Maddie through a hug visibly scared her before she was able to send him on his way.
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“The moment we see in the apartment is his final push and what he needs in order to fulfill his spiritual arc — which then we see when he goes to the lake,” Arnold told Us. “That image of him baptizing himself and trying to cleanse himself from his sin. That was a really crucial moment for him to get from Maddie.”
Lady in the Lake‘s newest episode ended with Stephen getting captured by police at the lake. While it remains to be seen where Stephen’s journey goes from here, Arnold offered Us a glimpse into how he saw the character.
“He lives a very isolated life. He mainly only interacts with his mother and he works at the fish store, which is his safe space. However, he has this really strong [want] for connection — for connection with another person,” he shared. “That’s his battle where it’s really challenging for him to connect with people, but he has that really strong desire.”
It was important for Arnold that he not make any judgment calls about Stephen despite his mistakes, adding, “I think that the simpler you can approach it is sometimes the better. I tried to just figure out what he was after and he wanted.”
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He continued: “We were focusing on just what happens to him and his behavior and having that describe the character as opposed to having some sort of analytical judgment about who he is.”
Arnold also addressed the show being based on two real-life disappearances that took place in Baltimore — and reminded Us that this isn’t a true story.
“It is loosely inspired by real events, but it is a work of fiction. So I think for me — I mostly focused on the material on the scripts,” he concluded. “I did look [the person] up. There’s very little about him online. But I think that the character is its own character. It’s not based off that person. So I didn’t want to get trapped in trying to recreate what I thought it was supposed to be. I wanted to go in with a fresh mind.”
Lady in the Lake is currently streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes debut on Fridays through August 23.
