The Girl in the Woods is thanks to a woman behind the camera.
The new Peacock thriller series premieres Thursday, Oct. 21, and with executive producer and director Krysten Ritter at the helm, The Girl in the Woods has all the makings of a cult classic. Thanks to an all-women writing team and a scene-stealing teen cast, The Girl in the Woods is as socially relevant as it is spooky.
"They can tackle real s--t, like real life big problems and issues but through a lens that is very entertaining and scary and spooky so the audience gets entertained," star Misha Osherovich exclusively told E! News. "They're talking about things like gender identity and classism and environmental stuff, all things that we tackle in this show. It's a great vehicle to get people talking about important things."
Osherovich credited their "badass boss" Ritter for harnessing the necessary emotion to tell such an intense coming-of-age story featuring cults, otherworldly monsters and a portal to hell.
"[Ritter] knows how to walk that line of being an actors' director and making sure we feel comfortable," Osherovich added, "but also being a champion for the crew and getting the day done on time. She brought so much energy and love to the set but it was always so focused."
Co-star Sofia Bryant agreed. "Krysten is, on and off set, just an awesome human being," Bryant gushed. "She gets it done, she is so thorough. She knew exactly what she wanted the show to look like, and what I really loved was that she's always open to what we had to add to it. She would be straight up with us if something worked or if it didn't. She's just awesome. I freakin' love her."
Stefanie Scott applauded Ritter's "epic vision" for the series, and the specific direction for playing lead character Carrie. "From the very beginning, [Ritter] knew how she wanted [Carrie] to be rough and tough and wear men's clothes and not really play into the girl-fighting," Scott explained.
"A lot of the fighting does take place between women but she let us stay clothed and fight really dirty. It was brutal," Scott noted. "From a feminist's aspect, I really loved her vision and how committed she was to bring it to life in that way. It was so easy to kind of just make it in a bit of a different way, but she just always said, 'It's been done before,' so I really appreciated that from her."
Scott continued, "I was so excited when I first heard about Carrie. She's a really strong person, and with that, she has a very sensitive side as well. She comes from this really intense cult where she learns to fit to death at an early age, so that was really fun to play with."
And, as Ritter previously told E! News, she "fell in love" with her cast as well.
Watch the full interview above to hear more BTS details!
The Girl in the Woods premieres Thursday, Oct. 21 on Peacock.