Emily Deschanel

HAT COULD MAKE A SHOW ABOUT A MYSTERIOUS CULT EVEN MORE terrifying? Being inspired by a true story. “Maybe it’s a morbid fascination, because it’s dark, but I do find cults very interesting.” Emily Deschanel stars as Dr. Suzanne Mathis in the new Netflix series (September 2). “She’s a very accomplished person...but has blind spots and hasn’t really dealt with her own issues and trauma.” Perhaps that’s why her character brings a mysterious young woman, Mae (played by Madeleine Arthur) home. “I wanted to understand why she did what she did.” Based on a book by Daria Polatin, who also created the series, Deschanel says she loved how Daria “approached the stories” that reveal the truth behind the mysterious patient. “You are looking at a family who has different things going on and then one element changes... it changes everything.” What hasn’t changed for Deschanel is the clamoring of fans wanting to see a project with her and her sister, Zooey. “I would never say never. We’d have to play sisters because it would be weird if we weren’t.”