Patricia Arquette was instantly drawn to playing Maggie Murdaugh, the late wife of Alex Murdaugh, in the Hulu series “Murdaugh: Death in the Family.”
“Part of what I thought was really interesting about it was…most women who are killed in America are killed by their intimate partners. And, I’m a very similar age to her,” Arquette, 57, exclusively told The Post.
“I also grew up in this time where there was this good girl thing – this indoctrination about being a mom and a wife and [how] that’s this noble thing that you should aspire to be.”
Now streaming on Hulu and Disney+ (with new episodes out weekly on Wednesdays), “Murdaugh: Death in the Family” dramatizes the true crime story of former South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh (played by Jason Clarke), who was convicted of killing Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, in 2021. He received two life sentences and is currently incarcerated in South Carolina.
Because the family was prestigious and powerful in their community, the case made headlines and spawned documentaries such as Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.”
The Oscar-winning actress noted that she can relate to Maggie.
“I came up at that time where my dream was also to be a mom, and my dream was also to be married. Now, was I successful at that? No,” she quipped. “That pull was very powerful to me.”
Arquette has been married twice: to Nicolas Cage (from 1995 to 2001) and to “The Punisher” star Thomas Jane (from 2006 to 2011). She has a son, Enzo Rossi, 36, from a past relationship with musician Paul Rossi, and she also shares daughter Harlow, 22, with Jane.
“The failure of a marriage, I think, is a very intense, serious thing,” the Emmy-nominated “Severance” actress told The Post.
“And what I liked about this material was…there’s like an awakening, where [Maggie] starts to realize she has no clue who she’s with. She’s been with this guy since she was young and in college. And, it turns out she’s been gaslit for years.”
The “True Romance” actress was also interested in exploring “the generational entitlement this family has had” and the “access and all this kind of power that this family has had.”
“How they’ve gotten away with so much,” she concluded. “And how dangerous that can be.”
Like the Murdaughs, Arquette also comes from a family dynasty. Many of her relatives are actors, including late father Lewis, brother David, sister Rosanna, and late sister Alexis.
“We didn’t grow up wealthy. I love my family and they have these incredible talents and strengths,” she explained. “I think there’s a different experience with wealth.”
Unlike her upbringing, the Murdaugh family operated in “how to bend the law, how to make the law work, who behind the scenes can make [illegal actions] go away.”
Similar to Maggie, however, Arquette grew up watching her “selfless” mom “and how much you become the support system for all these other people.”
The “Boyhood” star noted, “I like this story because it was sort of untangling that.”
