Chris Foran

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One of the weirder true-crime stories to touch Wisconsin — although the crime didn't take place here — is the subject of the first season of a new anthology series launching Wednesday on Hulu.

The streaming service's show "The Act" debuts with the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a young woman who, according to her mother, suffers from a string of debilitating ailments, including cancer. When Gypsy discovers the truth, she seeks an escape from her mother and the prison she's built around her in Missouri — with help from a guy she meets online.

Joey King plays Gypsy, Patricia Arquette is her mother, Dee Dee, and Calum Worthy plays Gypsy's beau, Nick Godejohn.

The eight-episode series is based on a true story, the ending of which played out in the summer of 2015 in Waukesha County.

(Spoilers: The following likely gives away a few of the plot points of the series.)

Medical experts had begun suspecting that Dee Dee Blanchard had Munchhausen syndrome by proxy, in which a parent or caretaker makes up illnesses in a person under their care for sympathy and attention.

Godejohn, who lived in Big Bend, had been brought to Missouri by Gypsy to kill her mother for putting her through years of unnecessary surgeries and medication, as well as physical and psychological abuse. After Godejohn killed Dee Dee, he and Gypsy took a bus back to Big Bend. The pair, who had left a trail of evidence leading to Wisconsin, were quickly arrested in Waukesha County and charged in Dee Dee's murder.

Godejohn was convicted of murder in November 2018 and, in February of this year, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Before Hulu's series, the case had already spawned several documentaries, and Gypsy Blanchard has given numerous interviews, including a lengthy segment on "Dr. Phil."

RELATED:Gypsy Blanchard in new documentary: 'I couldn't just jump out of the wheelchair'

RELATED:In 'extraordinary' case, Gypsy Blanchard gets 10 years for murdering mother

RELATED:Nicholas Godejohn sentenced to life in prison for Blanchard murder in Greene County

Contact Chris Foran at (414) 224-2182 or chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12, Instagram at @chrisforansofcourse or Facebook at www.facebook.com/cforan12.