Elle Fanning is unrecognizable as Michelle Carter in the first photo of The Girl From Plainville, a new Hulu limited series. The Great star looks exactly like Michelle, complete with darker eyebrows and light brown hair. The upcoming series is inspired by the true story of the unprecedented texting suicide case involving Michelle.
Michelle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 over texts she sent to her then-boyfriend, Conrad Roy, who died by suicide in 2014. Michelle sent Conrad several texts encouraging him to take his own life. Michelle texted Conrad hours before his death: “You keep pushing it off and say you’ll do it but you never do. It’s always gonna be that way if you don’t take action.” Conrad was found dead by carbon monoxide poisoning on July 13, 2014.
Michelle was tried as a juvenile because she was 17 when the texts were sent. After a long trial, Michelle was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison with 15 months served and the rest suspended. She was released in January 2020 on good behavior after serving 11 months. She’ll be on probation for 5 years.
“This court has found that Carter’s actions and failure to act where it was her self-created duty to Roy since she put him in that toxic environment constituted reckless conduct,” Bristol County Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz said at the time. “The court finds that the conduct caused the death of Mr. Roy.”
The limited series is based on the Esquire article of the same name by Jesse Barron. The Girl From Plainville will explore Michelle’s relationship with Conrad Roy III and the events that led to his death and, later, her conviction of involuntary manslaughter.
In addition to Elle, who also serves as an executive producer, the series stars Chloë Sevigny as Lynn Roy, Colton Ryan as Conrad “Coco” Roy III, Cara Buono as Gail Carter, Kai Lennox as David Carter, and Norbert Leo Butz as Conrad “Co” Roy II. The Girl From Plainville is expected to premiere in spring 2022.