Siobhan Finneran watched this 'insane' cult documentary to prepare for 'mentally draining' Unchosen role
'I went down a big rabbit hole'
Unchosen stars Siobhan Finneran as a senior, intimidating member of a cult – and this “insane” Netflix documentary helped her prepare for the role.
The new Netflix series revolves around the Fellowship of the Divine, a (fictional) Christian sect in England. Life is simple and controlled; Adam (Asa Butterfield) and the other men wield the power, while Rosie (Molly Windsor) and the women cook, clean, and “nurture”.
Finneran plays Mrs Phillips, the wife of the cult’s leader (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston). At first, in the words of Unchosen showrunner Julie Gearey, she’s rather “frightening”, but there’s more to her than meets the eye.
It’s one of her greatest performances (no small feat, given Finneran’s other TV shows and movies).
Siobhan Finneran went down a cult documentary ‘rabbit hole’ before Unchosen
Finneran was “blown away” by the scripts for Unchosen. “She’s created this entire world based on closed religious communities… I just knew I wanted to be a part of this,” she told Netflix.
While Mrs Phillips’ costume helped Finneran get into character (“it’s a uniform – there’s no room to be unique or expressive”), she also did her own research.
“I went down a very big rabbit hole watching quite a few documentaries on Netflix about these religious communities – Wild, Wild Country was one,” she said.
Wild, Wild Country is a Netflix docu-series that focuses on Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Rajneeshpuram religious community. It chronicles the movement’s foundation, the creation of a city in Oregon, and the leader’s fate.
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No spoilers, but “wild” is an apt descriptor of the documentary.
“Once I’d watched two or three of them the same sort of story emerged of these very controlling environments, but what was interesting was that those who lived in them didn’t see it that way,” Finneran added.
“I think with a role like that I did find it mentally draining. It’s exhausting to play someone so closed off.”
Netflix’s Wild, Wild Country is “amazing”
Wild, Wild Country was originally released on Netflix in 2018.
Since then, Netflix has enjoyed a true crime boom. Don’t F**k with Cats, American Murder: Gabby Petito, and Take Care of Maya (among many others) have captured the world’s attention. However, Wild, Wild Country remains one of the streaming platform’s best docs.
“It’s easily one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. I highly recommend,” one Redditor commented.
“Wow. I’ve been on a cult kick lately: Waco, Heavens Gate etc… I knew the least about this and what I learned was astounding,” another wrote.
“This series was so unbelievably good,” a third wrote, while a fourth called it “insane”.
“It gets pretty crazy. Definitely worth a watch just for the sheer wtf of it all,” another commented.
Read more: New documentaries and true crime on TV and streaming in April 2026
