EXCLUSIVE: Joey King (The Kissing Booth) is set as the co-lead opposite Patricia Arquette in the first season of The Act, Hulu’s character-based anthology series from writers Nick Antosca and Michelle Dean and UCP.

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Written by Dean and Antosca and directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, The Act is a seasonal anthology series that tells startling, stranger-than-fiction true crime stories. The first season is based on Dean’s 2016 Buzzfeed article “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered.” It follows Gypsy Blanchard (King), a girl trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother, Dee Dee (Arquette). Her quest for independence opens a Pandora’s box of secrets, one that ultimately leads to murder.

Confined to a wheelchair but cheerful and gracious, Gypsy (King) is everyone’s idea of the perfect sick child. Her overprotective mother, Dee Dee (Arquette), has always been by her side. But as Gypsy’s sexuality comes into full bloom, she finds herself forced to rebel against her mother’s protectiveness, which has turned controlling and oppressive…

Antosca and Dean, along with Greg Shephard and Britton Rizzio, will executive produce. UCP, where Antosca is under an overall deal, is the studio.

King is coming off a starring role in the summer hit Netflix romantic movie The Kissing Booth. She also recently sold an original supernatural romance pitch to Paramount Players, The In Between, which she will star in and produce. Marc Klein is writing.

King also stars in The Lie, directed by Veena Sud, which will premiere at TIFF next week, and the 2018 SXSW entry Summer 03, set for theatrical release later this month. King, whose TV credits include a co-starring role on the Emmy-winning first season of Fargo, is repped by Industry Entertainment, UTA, Coast to Coast and attorney Howard Fishman.