This interview contains spoilers for the All Her Fault finale.

Jake Lacy is currently embracing his villainous persona. While he began his career in comedies like The Office and Girls, he has recently found his niche in the domestic thriller genre. From playing a kidnapper in <em>A Friend of the Family</em> to portraying the deceitful eldest son in Apples Never Fall and a wealthy, arrogant newlywed in <em>The White Lotus</em> (for which he received an Emmy nomination), he has fully embraced this darker role.

This trend continues in All Her Fault, where Lacy takes on the character of Peter Irvine, the father of a kidnapped child. What initially appears to be a simple case quickly evolves into a complex narrative as more of Peter’s secrets are unveiled, including murder, years of deception, and even baby theft. It’s undoubtedly a shocking and twist-filled series, but Lacy adeptly grounds his unpredictable character while playing off remarkable co-stars like Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning.

Collider had the opportunity to speak with Lacy about his role in the series (and thankfully, he is a joy to converse with — quite different from the characters we have seen him portray lately). During our discussion, he shares insights into unlocking his villainous character, his on-screen demise at the hands of Sarah Snook, how he learned about the show’s surprising ending, and much more.

Jake Lacy Discusses Delving Into Another Villainous Role in ‘All Her Fault’

“Peter is still trying to define them or control them in this way that served them all up until this breaking point.”

COLLIDER: I have to tell you, during the pilot of this, I wrote in my notes, “It’s so refreshing to watch him play a nice guy after The White Lotus and Apples Never Fall,” and I was quickly made a fool.

JAKE LACY: No! He’s back.

How does it feel to be in what some may say is your villain era?

LACY: My villain era. [Laughs] Well, I’m thrilled. I’m really thrilled. I do hope to step out of that villain era. It’d be nice to have a little reprieve from villainy. But ultimately, I’m very happy to get to play these characters who are complex and multi-layered or multi-dimensional, and they happen to be in the family drama/thriller genre right now. My goal is to get to work with good people on good material, and that’s been the case, so if I get to keep doing that, I’m happy.

I do love that he’s definitely not a black-and-white villain. There’s so much more to him. There’s that moment when he mentions that his parents didn’t really want to be parents, and he was sort of trying to protect his siblings from that. Was that sort of your north star for him? Or what was the key to unlocking this character for you?

LACY: That’s a lovely question. Thank you. I think there’s a lot of justification in the actions he’s taken, the choices he’s made, and the way that he deals with his siblings, in particular, and Marissa, to some extent. He’s very generous, supportive, and compassionate, emotionally and financially, but that also comes with a high expectation. And some of that expectation is a wide berth in his own behavior to say, “I’m trying to keep a thousand things in the air — I can’t also be gentle and kind and sweet. Sometimes, I’m gonna be a little mean because I’ve got a lot going on, and you need to step up.”

As we meet the family or the siblings, in particular, those dynamics and circumstances are close enough that everyone has a shared unhealthy perspective on one another. But as the tension builds, that starts to fracture a bit where finally, Brian and Lia sort of see that Peter’s narrative and their reality are actually a bit further apart than before, and that continues on where they find their own independence. And Peter is still trying to define them or control them in this way that served them all up until this breaking point.

Your character is one who has a lot of secrets, which I feel like is probably a lot of fun to play. Obviously, he accidentally injured his brother as a child, and he switched the babies in the car wreck. Are there any particular moments in your performance where you purposely hinted at secrets he was keeping that people might pick up on a rewatch?

LACY: They decide in the edit what is too much or what’s not enough. It feels fun to think, “Oh, maybe I’ll feather this in,” but you want it to be almost imperceptible in a way. But when Peña comes and shows us the iPad with Sophia’s character saying, “Have you ever seen Carrie Finch before?” And I have seen Carrie Finch before. I’d seen her five years earlier and thought she was dead — there’s a second of recognition — then saying “So this is who has my son?” Those little moments where even if it’s just internal and you don’t see any response or reaction are fun to build internally and then hopefully have that seep out through the episodes without [winks] winking at what’s occurring or playing it off so that the audience goes,” All right, so 20 minutes in we know that’s the guy who did it. Cool.”

Jake Lacy Breaks Down His Shocking ‘All Her Fault’ Death Scene and Working With Sarah Snook

“It’s like being in fourth grade and messing around with your friends at recess.”

I have to say, your death scene was very satisfying. I’m curious if you can talk about shooting that with Sarah, and then what is the key to dying on camera?

LACY: Every scene with Sarah is delightful. She’s an incredible actor and an excellent leader on set. As much as you want to work on these great projects and be part of these stories or shows or films — ultimately — what I cherish most is the experience of creating them together with people involved. The culture or tone is often set by those leading roles on set. Having Sarah as number one on the call sheet is truly ideal — she sets an incredibly high standard while maintaining humility and generosity.

The death scene is enjoyable because it allows you to explore what feels excessive versus what feels understated while conveying panic as he realizes “Oh no, this is it,” coupled with understanding Marissa’s orchestration behind it all. It’s about building tension while maintaining stillness before finally needing to breathe again — akin to pretending you’re falling down a hill during recess at school but more advanced at age 38.

I love it. I feel like that and being drunk on camera are probably two of the hardest things because they require full-body involvement.

LACY: Playing drunk can be challenging because most people who are intoxicated try hard not to appear so — they might act sober or remain unaware they’re intoxicated. It’s easier portraying someone completely wasted rather than someone who’s had just enough drinks leading them into saying something inappropriate — that’s tricky but enjoyable.

Jake Lacy Was Just as Shocked by ‘All Her Fault’s Ending as You Were

This show has so many twists and turns. What was your most shocking moment?

LACY: Probably when Abby slapped Daniel unexpectedly — that was quite surprising! [Pausa] Just kidding — she didn’t do that.

[A laughs] I was like “Whoa!”

The director Minky had only provided me with initial scripts when we first met — they hadn’t completed others yet. Minky asked if I wanted insight into what happened later on — assuming it would follow a straightforward thriller format where our son goes missing — so learning my character unwittingly triggered events five years prior was thrilling! From there onward everything was meticulously planned while my role required making it feel spontaneous — nothing should genuinely shock me during filming except for those great reveals.

A hundred percent! Thank you for your time! I look forward to seeing you portray more villains as well as good guys!

All Her Fault is available for streaming on Peacock.

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