Brittany Snow is having a murderous year.

Fresh off the success of The Hunting Wives, the Pitch Perfect star is back on Netflix with The Beast in Me, a new series from creator Gabe Rotter (The X-Files) and showrunner Howard Gordon (Homeland). Snow plays Nina, the wife of Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys), an accused murderer who becomes entangled with author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes).

The series’ creative pedigree was irresistible to Snow. “I really wanted to be involved with everyone: Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, the creator of Homeland, Howard Gordon,” Snow tells Tudum. “And I really respected the type of show they were trying to create. It was this cat-and-mouse, Hitchcockian, slow-burn thriller that I really appreciate and always like to watch.”

Along with that slow burn comes plenty of twists and turns. We chatted with Snow about Nina’s journey through The Beast in Me. Be warned: There are spoilers ahead. 

Chris Saunders/Netflix

Tell us a little bit about your character. What attracted you to the role?
Brittany Snow: There were only two episodes that I was able to read when I initially auditioned for the part. I knew my role on the page for the first two episodes was just the wife, but there was something they alluded to that really intrigued me. She was up to something. There was something behind this front. And I could see that in the character, and I really wanted to join a show that would maybe subvert that genre a little bit and subvert that character — “Oh, you think she’s maybe just the wife?” I do find that I get to play a lot of women who, on the surface, look and act a certain way, and then turn out to be something else. That always intrigues me.

What was it like performing opposite Matthew Rhys? What kind of scene partner is he?
Snow: I love Matthew. I knew how incredibly talented he was. I’ve seen The Americans and Brothers & Sisters and his work in films, but what I was surprised to know is just how generous an actor he is — how present and gregarious. He’s one of those guys that is just always having fun. He’s so present and alive, especially [when I got] to play off him. He’s such a funny person, and it really keeps it so entertaining on set, because here we’re playing this very dark show. There’s a lot of tension in our scenes, and yet when we would call cut, he would just be laughing and making jokes. 

We got along pretty much right away, and we discussed at length what kind of marriage we had, if I was really in love with him, if he was really in love with me, if it was transactional in a way. Is it purely based on chemistry and the sexual nature of it? 

[We realized that Nile] really likes having a sparring partner. It really makes him feel alive, as you can see through the show. I think Nina was that type of person for him in the past. After they got married, she got a little bit more submissive. That’s the tension you’re seeing within the show: “Is that still working? Is she still a compatible sparring partner for him?” We left it a little open-ended [about] what type of relationship they had and if he really loved her or not.

Do you think, on any level, Nina suspects that Nile’s a killer?
Snow: One of my favorite things to play in this character, and what I talked about with the creators and producers at length, was that question of if she knows. I do think she’s smart enough to know, and yet subconsciously — and even consciously — makes the decision to not know. That psychology is interesting to me, how a lot of people, out of self-preservation, want to look the other way on something they innately know — but it would be detrimental to their entire worldview if they believed it. I think she’s burying it so far down that she starts believing the lie. 

Tell us about working with Claire Danes. How does Nina respond to this intruder in her life?
Snow: Something that we wanted to play with is that Nina uses her personality, her charm and sexuality, to her advantage in a lot of ways. She’s a survivor. She doesn’t necessarily come from this world, but she knows how to chameleon herself to make it work. 

So when she meets Claire’s character, Aggie, I think she’s sussing her out to make sure she’s doing something good for Nile — and for [Nina]. If something bad happens to Nile and something happens to the dynasty and the castle they’ve created, her livelihood is at stake as well. She’s really invested in making sure Aggie likes her. 

Do you think she’s really interested in Shelley’s (Natalie Morales) artwork when she offers her a gallery show? Is she playing a game or is she sincere?
Snow: I think that’s sincere. I think she’s really interested in her artwork. And I think she’s trying hard to differentiate herself from Nile and wanting to have a voice in this marriage. That’s the first time you see the cracks in her armor. She signed up for this life, but at what cost? She feels silenced. She doesn’t want to be Madison [played by Leila George] again.

Nile and Nina have a very tumultuous dynamic; they even reignite their sexual relationship right after a bad fight. What was it like playing that scene?
Snow: I think that scene is really important because it informs the type of person that Nina is at her core. She’s a chameleon. She knows how to work a situation, she knows how to get what she wants, and she does it in a really intelligent way that I think he undermines. I think he doesn’t see her as someone who’s as smart as him. That’s why he doesn’t respect her and the relationship is crumbling.

She stands up to him and she always has. In the bedroom, she continues to do that, knowing that’s really what he likes and turns him on — someone who doesn’t back down. I think he sees it as an animalistic thing, that he can go back and forth with — as opposed to not having any fun or gameplay. I think she uses that to her advantage when she feels cornered.

In the flashback episode, we learn that Nina is the one who told Nile about his first wife’s betrayal. What do you think inspired her to do that, and do you think she regrets it?
Snow: [Nina] doesn’t come from money. She worked her way up. She thinks she’s really talented, but she didn’t come from a background that was going to get her very far. She was going to have to get there on talent alone. I think there was an undercurrent of, “I’m so sick of this fight where I’m never going to be on the same level as these people who just have this inherent base of connection and money and wealth, and they get whatever they want.” I think she’s tired of taking care of Maddie. I think she’s tired of being thrown around, and she does it out of anger and impulse. I do think that she regrets it, and I don’t think she realizes what it inevitably unleashes. It’s more that she’s tired rather than it being a malicious attack.

In the present, Nina has another moment of betrayal by making that recording and turning Nile in to the police. What do you think pushes her to make that decision?
Snow: It’s one of my favorite things about this show: I don’t know if any character is completely morally clean. I think it could be open to interpretation if Nina has been playing [Nile] from the beginning. Did she ever love him? Has she been planning this all along to take over his empire and get exactly what she wanted? When Nile yells at her in the huge fight scene where he admits what he did to her, he says, “I did exactly what you wanted me to. You got everything you ever wanted.” And I do think that’s true. 

One of my favorite things about that scene is she’s very conflicted because she does love him in a messed-up way. She also wants to do right by Maddie, whom I think she genuinely loved as well. And there’s a bit of fuck you — excuse my language — to the man, people who are rich, who get away with all these types of things. She’s getting back at him and getting back at a system and a societal norm. 

Nina ends the series as the parent of Nile’s child. What do you think Nina’s future looks like?
Snow: The last scene and the last shot is her holding the baby and looking at [Aggie’s book about Nile] at the same time. She always wanted a baby. She always wanted this life of luxury and riches, but it does always come at a price. You reap what you sow. Did she bring this person into the world with inherent baggage and an evil mentality? Both [Nile and Nina] are so morally corrupt in their own ways. And she knows that. I think she’s smart enough to understand that’s a choice she made. So, just like Jonathan Banks’s character [Martin Jarvis] and Matthew Rhys and their sort of duality, I do think you wrestle with: “What are you giving your child to set them up? Are you setting them up for success? Are you setting them up for failure?”

The series is called The Beast in Me for a reason, and “the beast” doesn’t only refer to Nile. Do you think that Nina has a beast in her? And what do you think it is?
Snow: Definitely. I think we all do. I think that’s what’s so great about this show — all of us have these dark parts of ourselves. Nina’s darkness comes from wanting to be a survivor and wanting to get what she deserves. But I think that animalistic nature is something that scares her. And it should be scary [to others] because she has been undermined and disrespected in a lot of ways. A lot of women can relate to that: After so long being pushed around, what would you be willing to do if you could get back at someone? 

The Beast in Me is now streaming on Netflix.