Annie Murphy and Stephen Root are cult favorites in new Freeform series ‘Praise Petey’

It’s time for us to Praise Petey.

That’s the name of Freeform’s newest series, its first-ever animated show, which premieres on Friday, July 21. Stars Annie Murphy and Stephen Root spoke to ABC Audio all about the new show before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.

Murphy stars as the titular Petey, a New York City “It” girl whose life changes dramatically after she finds out what her dead father, played by Root, left behind for her.

“Petey is a young woman who thinks that she has it together [but] who does not have it together in the least. And to add insult to injury, she inherits a cult from her dead dad,” Murphy said. “That’s kind of where we start.”

Petey proves that she can run her own cult, but do Murphy or Root think they’ve got what it takes to be able to give it a go?

“Oh gosh, no. I’m so not a type-A personality. Otherwise, I’d direct. No, I like being part of an ensemble,” Root said. “The character that I’m playing is truly out of his mind, but having such a good time doing it.”

Murphy shares Root’s sentiments: “I don’t think I would make a good cult leader at all. I’m too much of a people pleaser. I don’t think I have that manipulative gene in me.”

And while she may differ from her character in that way, Murphy’s had a blast showing up to work in sweatpants, and having the opportunity to just “immediately be over the top and way too much and ridiculous.”

“It’s rare that the director tells you to, like, turn it down, which is always fun, because in film and TV, you’d be fired immediately if you went that bananas right out of the gate,” Murphy said.

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