Under the Bridge, a true crime story by Quinn Shephard, features a stellar cast of prominent actors and rising stars. The miniseries, which made its premiere on Hulu yesterday, April 17, 2024, brings to life the horrifying story of Reena Virk’s murder. The storyline of the show is inspired by Rebecca Godfrey’s book of the same name, which explores what really happened and who killed the 14-year-old Canadian girl.
Thanks in part to the cast’s stellar performances, Under the Bridge will keep viewers hooked on the story. Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone and Good Doctor star Riley Keough are two of the most famous faces linked with the project.
In addition to highlighting the richness and beauty of Native American culture, Gladstone recently claimed that the show tackles significant problems like the struggle for acceptance and justice.
Lily Gladstone’s Perspective on Indigenous History in Under the Bridge
Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone took on the roles of Rebecca Godfrey and Cam, respectively, in Under the Bridge. While the former assumed the role of the real author of the book on which the show is based, the latter played the “Indigenous cop” looking into Reena Virk’s murder case. ScreenRant interviewed the actors to talk about their preparations for telling the true story in Quinn Shephard’s series.
Keough discussed her connection to the late author Rebecca Godfrey and the amount of knowledge she had gained about her. Gladstone, meanwhile, talked about her research into the racial dynamics in Canada’s police force.
Although there is no real-life counterpart for Cam in Godfrey’s book, Gladstone recognized Cam as a symbol of Canada’s larger problems. Not only is Cam the only woman on the force, but she is also the only Indigenous woman in the program. Gladstone was therefore thrilled to have the opportunity to explore such a delicate subject within the framework of the Hulu drama.
The actress, 37, added:
“Yeah. I really immediately [understood] when I saw that it was an indigenous cop. There were a lot of indigenous cops on TV, especially women. In some ways, I feel like that’s the bulk of our representation. So, I was really happy that in this, I also saw the element of her being an adoptee… But in any case, I knew that with Cam being not just the only woman on the force, but an indigenous woman raised in a white cop family, there was absolutely a conversation in there.”
Gladstone is entirely correct when she says that Reena Virk’s tragedy is a reflection of the injustices meted out to Indigenous people in Canada and the United States.
Illuminating the Forgotten: Lily Gladstone’s Under the Bridge
Lily Gladstone described Reena Virk’s death in more detail, drawing a parallel between it and the murders of “Indigenous” women in North America. The Montana-born actress stated:
“I feel like saying that we live in such a diverse, embracing society is a way of avoiding the conversation about, ‘Okay, so why did this happen to Reena then? Why did it happen in the way that it did to Reena?’ And I was really grateful that within this woman cop who is indigenous, there was room to also include an indigenous conversation that didn’t really exist.”
Gladstone revealed that in Under the Bridge, a character has a component of “Indigenous identity”, which the show’s creators “mirrored” through Cam’s character. The Killers of the Flower Moon actress added:
“If you’re in Canada, and you’re telling a story about a missing girl, it’s pretty important that you bring an indigenous voice and character as a way of having that representation. Disproportionately, in Canada and the US – and globally, it’s indigenous women who go missing and are murdered. I feel like there was a compulsion in a way of discovering her own story, which has kind of denied her.”
As she noted, Under the Bridge does carry an important aspect of Native American history that demands attention and recognition in society. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a gorgeous 84% approval rating for the series.
Stream Under the Bridge on Hulu.
