Kate Mara ‘overwhelmed’ by stories of predatory teachers while researching new role

Kate Mara has opened up about the “overwhelming” work that went into preparing for her role as an educator having an affair with a student in the new series A Teacher.

The series, inspired by the 2013 independent film of the same name, begins airing this 10 November on Hulu. It stars Mara as Claire, an English teacher in a Texas high school who has a relationship with a teenage student named Eric (portrayed by 25-year-old Nick Robinson).

Mara told The New York Post in a new interview that she followed news reports about real-life incidents echoing the show’s storyline as part of her preparation for the show.

“We had it on Google Alerts,” the actor said. “The amount of real-life stories that we’d see on a weekly basis was quite overwhelming. This type of predatory relationship happens much more frequently than I think most people would expect.”

According to The Post, this experience encouraged Mara to take on the show. She’s credited as an executive producer in addition to playing one of the two leads.

“Playing someone who is an abuser – who uses her position and her power to manipulate someone – is not something that I would say is an easy thing to do,” she added of her role as Claire.

The miniseries will air in several installments with a total of 10 episodes. The last one is scheduled to stream on 29 December.