Regard for 1960s prepared actress for role in ‘Night’

It ended up being India Eisley’s good fortune that her parents — musician David Glen Eisley and actress Olivia Hussey — waited until they were in their 40s to have a child.

Both of them grew up in the 1960s, so Eisley was exposed to the politics, fashion, music and art of that time. Her parents’ experiences gave her an appreciation for the era, making it easier for her to slip into the role of Fauna Hodel in the TNT series “I Am the Night.” (It also can be seen on TBS.)

The six-part production, set to premiere Monday, is inspired by the life of Hodel (Eilsey), a white girl who grew up in Nevada thinking she was mixed-race. A wealthy family had given her to a black casino attendant soon after her birth.

Hodel’s efforts to learn the truth about her background lead her into a world of mystery (the Black Dahlia kind) and murder.

The teenager’s investigation takes her from Sparks, Nevada, to Los Angeles, where she meets disgraced reporter Jay Singletary (Chris Pine). They team to uncover the facts, an effort that takes them to Dr. George Hodel (Jefferson Mays), an infamous Los Angeles gynecologist.

Most of what Eisley needed to know about the time and story was in the script. She spoke with the daughters of the real Fauna Hodel for background but limited her research.

“I didn’t want the work to feel like she was too aware of everything,” Eisley said. “She is not stupid, by any means, but she is very young and has been kind of sheltered from the world. I got the feeling from her daughters that Fauna was very transient and a loner.”

That was a part of the

character that Eisley understood. As a child, she didn’t get to stay in school for long periods because she was always traveling with her performing parents. When she did attend regular school, Eisley said, she was “very shy.”

Eisley, 25, has been acting since she was 10 years old.

She had roles in “The Curse of Sleeping Beauty” and “Underworld: Awakening,” but she is best-known as Ashley Juergens in the ABC Family TV series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

Ovecoming her shyness was crucial because she wanted to follow her mother’s career path.

“As a painfully shy kid, my fun time was locking myself away and watching movie after movie after movie,” she said. “Watching a good performance to me was like getting a new toy.”

Since beginning her acting career, Eisley said, she has approached every role she has played with deep respect. Her reverence for the role in “I Am the Night” was only heightened because, a few weeks before Eisley was cast to play Fauna Hodel, the real Hodel died.

She felt a “tender spot,” she said, in playing the role so close to Hodel’s passing.

Projects such as “I Am the Night,” she said, make her happy that she grew up watching her mother perform.

Decades before India’s birth, Hussey was stealing hearts with her work in Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet” — a role that Eisley said she will never play.

“Never, never, never — absolutely not. Plus, I am not a Juliet type.”