The Girl from Plainville: True story of Michelle Carter's unprecedented 'texting-suicide' case

Elle Fanning has grown up before our very eyes.

Now 25, she made her film debut in 2001’s I Am Sam, playing a younger version of her big sister Dakota’s character. But since then, she’s come into her own, and is now one of Hollywood’s leading twenty-something stars.

Since 2020 Fanning has concentrated on TV work, earning plaudits for her leading role as the 18th-century Russian empress Catherine in The Great, for which she’s received Screen Actors Guild, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her performance.

While speaking to Harper’s Bazaar magazine earlier this year, she stated, “I’ve been playing Catherine in such formative years of my life. I’ve grown as a woman alongside her,” before adding: “I do sense I’m in another transformation phase right now, sometimes you can just feel you’re growing another layer.”

Perhaps Fanning had her role in The Girl from Plainville in mind during the interview, because apart from the fact she plays another real-life person in the eight-part drama series, the two characters couldn’t be further removed.

Here, she takes the role of Michelle Carter, who hit the headlines in 2014 in disturbing circumstances. Two years earlier she had met troubled teenager Conrad Roy III. Despite living just 35 miles apart, they conducted their relationship mostly by text and email, and it was these messages that sealed her fate.

Roy, at the age of 18, eventually took his own life. He had received texts from Carter in which she appeared to conspire with him, suggesting methods he could adopt, eventually writing a message to a female friend stating: “I could have stopped him… All I had to say was I love you.”

In 2017, Carter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but was released early from her sentence due to her good behaviour.

The case caused controversy in the US, and was ripe for turning into a drama. The resulting series has been acclaimed by critics, with Fanning’s performance singled out for particularly high praise. It wasn’t an easy role, however, as she had to spent a lot of time in hair and make-up to make her resemble Carter.

“The physical transformation like that, I hadn’t done quite like this before — playing someone that really is still alive and is so recognisable,” claimed the actor during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

It’s so convincing that you may not even recognise her immediately. She also puts her heart and soul into the performance, something that’s become a hallmark during her career to date: “I get pumped up like before a match, like you’re going out there to try to win something,” she says.

So, what’s next for the star? At the moment her diary seems to be empty, but you can bet it won’t be long before she’s back on our screens – after all, she claims she’s inherited a tough work ethic: “My parents instilled the importance of dedication in us – work hard for what you want, always show up on time, reinvigorate yourself constantly.”

She may be a grown-up now, but it seems Elle Fanning hasn’t stopped developing – and maybe never will.