The characters in Sharp Objects are all hiding secrets–different kinds of secrets.
For Chris Messina, the idea of “having a secret in every scene” was integral to his portrayal of Detective Richard Willis, the outsider sent to Wind Gap. Mo. to investigate the disappearance and murder of two teenage girls.
“You don’t find out all that much about Richard — he’s holding his cards close to his vest,” Messina explains. “He is getting way too close to the lead reporter, which is Detective 101 in what not to do, but he is also showing some restraint, and little by little you see in the behavior of Richard these secrets reveal themselves.”
As Richard’s time in Wind Gap went on, he should have been getting to the bottom of the case, but his complicated feelings for Camille (played by multiple Oscar nominee Amy Adams) caused lines to blur.
“I don’t think until episode 7 he’s quite even aware of how deep he’s gone,” Messina says. “He’s gone off the beaten path of the investigation and really headstrong into the investigation of Camille.”