Adapted from a critically acclaimed bestselling novel, Hulu’s new “Saint X” series is a psychological thriller revolving around a murder in the Caribbean and the years later pursuit of the killer.
Emily is seven when she vacations in the ‘90s with her parents and older sister Alison, 18, at a pricey Caribbean resort. Alison (Wes Duchovny, Tea Leoni and David Duchovny’s daughter) is murdered but no killer is charged.
A decade later Emily (Australia’s Alycia Debnam-Carey of “Fear the Walking Dead”) has a boyfriend, a Manhattan pad and persistent trauma from her sister’s death.
“These two young boys from the island who work at the hotel were accused of murder and acquitted,” Debnam-Carey, 29, explained in a Zoom interview. “But then 10 years later, Emily is suddenly confronted with one of the accused. What ensues is her attempt to not only figure out what happened and find justice for her sister but essentially really figure out who she is and try and reconcile these two halves of her life.”
Her sister’s death left Emily broken. “She doesn’t really know who she is,” Debnam-Carey said. “She’s essentially tried to fill a void in her life. In essence, in many ways, she’s tried to become a version of her sister to heal from this trauma.
“The first time we think we’re seeing her as this stable person with a boyfriend, a job. But slowly we start to see the cracks and a lot of unresolved trauma that she’s working through to find, essentially, an understanding of herself.
“I think she’s absolutely haunted by all of this because she never was able to get the answers that she wanted.”
As Emily navigates between detection and her “normal” life, Debnam-Carey had to maintain an unraveling identity. “This was a really hard, I’m not going to lie.
“So much of it was spent in anxiety and a very heavy mental place. Most days were this oscillating experience between a child-like Emily who desperately wanted to feel special and that she was heard,” she said. “And her wish that she could be herself.
“Then there’s this adult Emily who felt she needed to avenge her sister and create a resolution for herself.”
With a 100-plus “Fear the Walking Dead” episodes, did this young actor ever worry about being typecast?
“Maybe a little bit. But my goal as an actor has always been to be a bit of chameleon and seek out change and growth in different ways. So I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I just became pretty determined that would not be the case.”
“Saint X” streams on Hulu Wednesday
