Given the massive critical acclaim of Season 1, fans predicted that American Crime Season 2 would follow down the same successful path. And they were right. The anthology may only be one episode into its new storyline — which follows the alleged drugging and sexual assault of Taylor Blaine by members of his high school's basketball team — but you can practically taste the Emmy nominations that are sure to come from these riveting performances. One that especially stands out is Lili Taylor's portrayal of Taylor's mother, Anne Blaine. Fueled by grief and anger, Anne is determined to see her son's attackers get the punishment they deserve. But will justice prevail? In an interview with Bustle, Taylor reveals what's next for her character and how the Season 2 plot was almost very different.
"It was supposed to be a girl," the actress says of the rape victim at the center of the plot. "I had a daughter and John [Ridley] changed it." Taylor continues to explain that this change actually affected more than that specific character, as she believes the plot would've been very different if Taylor was female. "It's a huge difference making it a boy. It makes it a lot more complicated," Taylor says. "When it's a boy, you're dealing with something that our society doesn't know how to deal with yet."
Why is that? Clinical psychologist David Lisak told the New York Times that we as a society have a "cultural blind spot" when it comes to the subject of male rape. "We recognize that male children are being abused, but then when boys cross some kind of threshold somewhere in adolescence and become what we perceive to be men, we no longer want to think about it in this way."
That's precisely the type of perception that Taylor's on-screen adolescent son is experiencing firsthand from the school board on American Crime. But don't worry, Taylor's character is not about to back down from this fight. In fact, last viewers saw, Anne had just made the bold decision to dial 911 and report her son's assault when the school's investigation of the crime proved unsuccessful. And that decision will be the catalyst that drives the rest of Season 2 forward. "I feel as though the train has left the station and it's a cascade of events that have been set off, so it's really exciting. Tough, but exciting," Taylor says of what's ahead. But if you think you know how this story is going to play out, think again. The actress warns viewers to not make any assumptions, because Season 2 is guaranteed to take some unexpected turns.
"Well, the thing about John is, what you think might be coming, he's going to probably take a quick left or right," she says. "He's constantly turning things around, which I think is really good for human beings to be thrown off." Just like last season, it seems that Taylor's story in American Crime Season 2 will challenge viewers emotionally as the complex plot unfolds.
Images: Ryan Green/ABC (2)
