Annette Bening Explains Why Her “Lucky” Role ‘Feels New to Me’ 40 Years Into Her Career (Exclusive)

“I found all of those contradictions really interesting and fun to play,” she says of character Priscilla Masterson

NEED TO KNOW Annette Bening channels a complicated crime boss in Apple TV's Lucky The decorated actress tells PEOPLE what intrigued her about the character of Priscilla Masterson and working alongside costar Anya Taylor-Joy ""It feels new to me to play a woman of my age, 68, who's in this dilemma," she says Annette Bening has never embodied a character quite like Priscilla Masterson before. The Lucky star, who plays crime boss Priscilla in the new Apple TV thriller, tells PEOPLE that her latest gig feels fresh for good reason — even after four decades of performances that have earned her Oscar nominations, Golden Globes and Emmys.

"It feels new to me to play a woman of my age, 68, who's in this dilemma, who still feels under the thumb of this guy who she has felt under the thumb of her entire life almost," Bening says of her character's dynamic with fellow criminal Wayne Whittaker (William Fichtner). "She's made so many bad choices and she's also been ... Bad things have happened to her."

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