Hulu’s most haunting new show of 2019, The Act, has people interested in the real-life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard all over again. With the help of Joey King’s portrayal, Gypsy’s life with her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, is brought to life in the streaming series, and although it’s clearly a fictionalized retelling, the events that take place in the show are based on what Gypsy really went through.
What Happened to Gypsy’s Teeth on The Act?
In the second episode of The Act, viewers watched in horror as Gypsy started to lose her teeth. After she discovered that her mother was probably lying about her daughter having an allergy to sugar, Gypsy started to sneak sweet treats whenever she could. Before long, the girl’s teeth get so bad that she started bleeding while brushing them and one eventually fell out in the series. That led her mother to have a dentist extract all but four of Gypsy’s teeth.
What Happened to Gypsy’s Teeth in Real Life?
In reality, it was Dee Dee’s “repeated abuse of her daughter” that likely caused Gypsy to need to have all her teeth extracted, Distractify reported. That abuse was also the motive behind why Gypsy and her boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, planned to kill her, although Gypsy pretended not to understand that her mother was dead when police initially interrogated her about the crime, an ABC News clip showed.
Buzzfeed News reported in 2016 that in real life, “Gypsy’s teeth rotted out and had to be extracted, though whether that was because of poor dental hygiene or a mixture of medications and severe malnutrition, it’s hard to say.” Her teeth really were reportedly “crumbling and painful” before the extractions were done.
Did Gypsy Get Fake Teeth?
Yes. In both the Hulu series and in reality, Gypsy ended up with fake teeth to replace the ones she lost. Distractify reported, “Today, Gypsy, who’s already halfway through her sentence at the Chillicothe Corrections Center, has a beautiful smile, courtesy of an impeccable set of false teeth.” On the show, Gypsy was given dentures by her mom right before she’s honored with the Child of the Year award — despite likely having them for days before and standing by as her daughter longed for them.
Did Joey King Wear False Teeth for The Act?
Variety interviewed Joey about her portrayal of Gypsy and reported that she did wear a set of false teeth for her performance. “Her teeth changed throughout the stories,” Joey explained. “In pictures of her when she was younger she had pretty buck teeth with some silver caps, and then as time went on, her teeth got kind of rotten, and then there’s two more stages after that where when you see her in interviews now, we had those teeth, too.” She said the teeth actually helped her get into character, and changed the shape of her mouth.
In the real world, Gypsy still has her fake teeth. If she hadn’t gone through the abuse she did at the hands of Dee Dee, there’s no telling what her dental health could be like today.
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