(L to R) Max Irons and Jemima Rooper.
Photo Credit: Vlad Cioplea / Courtesy of A+E Studios and Lifetime

Question: What drew you to this project and how to did you find your characters?

Jemima Rooper: The job was four months in Romania and I just had a baby, but because the part was so fantastic I was like, I have to at least make a tape, have a go. And then of course it all happened and I then read "Flowers in the Attic" before we started shooting to try and get an idea. And I love our project. I love that we get to find out a little bit why this woman has ended up so extreme and I think it's a sort of brilliant and believable explanation as to what makes a monster or someone to behave monstrously. And it's not black and white and that’s really interesting. From the scripts as they are, I don't see the monster, I see Olivia is just misunderstood. I completely sort of sympathize with her up until maybe the last episode possibly. This part is a total gift, so I only have amazing things to say. I think probably Max had a harder journey because there wasn’t as much that was easy to see at first that was a way to sympathize with. But certainly from my point of view with Olivia, there’s quite the backstory and there’s a lot that happens to her, which you can see keeps pushing her down this dark path.

Max Irons: I was aware of "Flowers in the Attic," but I never read it. However, when I was thinking of doing this job I would say to people, "Yeah, I'm considering taking this job 'Flowers in the Attic'," and the looks on their faces told me a lot. I then looked into it and the sort of morbid curiosity in me, it drew me in. And I think that that’s what a lot of people feel about V.C. Andrews and these books. And as for playing this character okay, Malcolm is a bit of a monster. He's a megalomaniac. He's a narcissist. He's psychopathic at moments. His father was very absent. His mother, who was overly present during his formative years, completely suddenly abandoned him. And this was a time where therapy wasn’t a thing, that a young man would’ve been abandoned with these confusing feelings and understandings of the world around him, and to draw his own conclusion. And while Malcolm is a monster, he is dealing with the world on the world’s terms from his perspective. And I think that’s how we have to look at as an actor. But it's my job not to judge him. It's to ask why he is the way he is. I felt the need to kind of, when we finish a scene go, By the way, I don’t think any of those things I just said, or “I’m not a horrible, psychopathic pervert.” But it is quite fun to play.

	If you want to know nothing about the episodes at all, skip this section. Provided by Lifetime, this episode guide includes general episode descriptions and specific plot details.

Part 1, airing July 9 at 8pm introduces Olivia Winfield as she gives up her career, her home, and her name to become Mrs. Malcolm Foxworth, the wife of the nation’s richest man. Leaving behind her father, when she arrives at her new home, Olivia soon realizes that life at Foxworth Hall is far from the fairytale she imagined it would be and begins to question the choices that led her down this path of eventual destruction.

Part 2, airing July 16 at 8pm As Olivia and Malcolm’s family grows in unexpected and questionable ways, she is committed to giving them a childhood full of joy and safety, no matter the cost. However, her efforts prove to be futile as she battles the evils of Foxworth Hall, and her husband’s twisted obsession over a family secret severs their relationship even further.

Part 3, airing July 23 8pm After a devastating and unimaginable loss that will haunt her for the rest of time, Olivia finds both her son and daughter in forbidden relationships. She opposes their unions, but as she tries to hold on, more destruction finds her and pushes her further to her breaking point. Finally, blood is on her hands as an old foe’s fate waits to be revealed.

Part 4, airing July 30 at 8pm: After losing all her children due to tragedy and tension, Olivia’s newfound religious beliefs instilled in her by her cousin, and her desire to wreck vengeance on those around her, drives her to become the most notorious and terrifying version of herself; a woman capable of locking her grandchildren in the attic upon the return of her daughter after tragedy strikes the family once again.