The Act’s Joey King Says Gypsy Rose Blanchard Can Do ‘Whatever She Wants’ After Her Prison Release

Joey King, who portrayed Gypsy Rose Blanchard in The Act, is showering her real-life character with support following the Louisiana native’s release from prison. The actress celebrated that Gypsy “is free” and reminded fans that “she can do whatever she wants.”

“I’m excited for her and her journey and whatever that looks like for her,” Joey, 24, told Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty on Sunday, March 10. “I’m happy for her. I’m really happy for her.”

The Kissing Booth star revealed that she has yet to meet Gypsy, 32, in person, but hopes the day that their paths cross amid their busy schedules. “We have not had a chance to meet up. We are in different parts of the United States. Maybe one day we will, but for now I’m just so happy that she’s able to kind of have her life back.”

Gypsy lived a life run by her mother’s Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP). Her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, lied about her daughter’s age and medical troubles throughout her life, leading Gypsy to falsely live her childhood in a wheelchair. In June 2015, Gypsy provided her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, with the knife he used when he stabbed Dee Dee to death. The following year, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, she was released and faced a brand new life on December 28, 2023.

When she joined the outside world, Gypsy was a married woman after she wed husband Ryan Anderson in June 2022 while behind bars.

“Ryan’s from Louisiana … and I’m originally from Louisiana, and I saw that, I’m kinda like, ‘Oh, hey, someone from my home state!’ So I wrote him a letter back and we became friends,” Gypsy told People in December 2023. “And of course more than friends, and then now we’re married.”

Weeks after her release from prison, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard author exclusively told In Touch that she wanted people to view her “as a person.”

“I wanted to put out the truth [in the Lifetime docuseries]. So much of what has already been put out there was by people who just didn’t know the ins and outs of my case, or my life,” she explained to In Touch. “I can finally be like, ‘OK, I’m ready. I’m emotionally stable. I don’t want to keep being haunted by the past.’ This series is me letting go of my past. People need to see me as a person, not a character from a TV show.”