The true story of a health guru’s fake claims of curing herself of cancer unfolds in Apple Cider Vinegar
In the footsteps of Inventing Anna and The Dropout arrives another story of a real-life con woman whose promises of health and wealth were too good to be true. This time the object of fascination is Belle Gibson, an Australian pseudo-science advocate who scammed thousands into believing that she had survived terminal brain cancer, while promoting her clean-living app.
Australian screenwriter Samantha Strauss first became aware of Gibson in a 2015 interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes and, after reading a book about her scheming, couldn’t shake her. “It was this fascinating story of a grifter who invented brain cancer and built a wellness empire on her lie,” explains Strauss. “But what I love so much about the story was that it encompassed lots of things in the world of wellness and people who had been affected by Belle’s scam. It felt like a chance to tell a story that was more than just the rise and fall of a con woman.”
Giving a voice to Belle Gibson is Kaitlyn Dever. “We’re really diving deep into human behaviour in the show,” says Dever, who received an Emmy nomination in 2022 for her devastating portrayal of an opioid addict on Dopesick. “I appreciated its take on what wellness means to the world and the hope that it brings.”
Despite knowing the insidious truth about Gibson, Dever made a point to understand the motivations of the influencer. “What Sam does so beautifully is dive deeper into why this person would lie,” says Dever. “What was helpful in playing her was to go back to her childhood and what she really craved in her life. Community and love, that’s really at the core of what she was so desperate for and would do anything to get.”
In the six-episode series, Strauss incorporates the rise of other — and equally misguided — wellness influencers in the early days of social media. Playing Milla Blake, a fictional cancer patient-turned-wellness guru is Fear the Walking Dead actress Alycia Debnam-Carey. “The character of Milla is so interesting and unique. That [type of] story was something that I grew up with as a young teenager, seeing that rise of wellness and health on social media,” says the Australian actress. “How interesting that was to understand and pick apart. And to then see these two characters, Belle and Milla, going toe to toe in a space where they both want to be acknowledged, but in such an insane and absurd way, was just captivating.”
While on some level Belle and Milla are perpetuating the same lie, that cancer can be healed holistically through diet, Strauss wanted to demonstrate two different phenomena. “It was so interesting to me to tell a story about Belle, who was lying to the world, and then juxtapose that with Milla who is really lying to herself,” says Strauss. “What I was so attracted to in developing the character of Milla was how hard it is to be a young woman, and how much pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect, to be good, to be pretty. She doesn’t want to cut off her arm. And a doctor might say that’s vanity, but the doctor hasn’t been a young woman, who has felt that extreme pressure.”
For both, it is also a story about the intoxication of fame and acceptance. “It was really interesting to see Milla’s evolution and finding her own power and how brilliant that is, in one respect, and how toxically positive it is,” says Strauss. “Perhaps by the end, she is faced with what she’s done and who she’s hurt and finds some peace in turning off the computer. It’s fragile peace, but that’s what I wanted to explore.”
Each episode begins with the disclaimer that the series is based on a lie. For Strauss, it is a way of saying that some characters, like Milla, have been created for storytelling purposes, but the warning goes beyond creative license. “When we were developing this show, I was talking to a friend whose partner had brain cancer, and they were horrified that we were doing a show based on Belle, like, how dare you give her that platform?” explains Strauss. “I wanted to tell the audience right up front, ‘No, she’s not being paid,’ and then it sparked this thought that this series is based on a lie.”
The lie is, in part, Belle’s wild claims, but also Strauss’ depiction of someone she has never met. “This is a true story based on a truth that wasn’t true. It’s a circle,” says the writer. “And I’ve never met the real Belle Gibson. It’s fiction. I’ve got the facts that have been reported on and written about, but writing is creation, so our Belle is very different, I’m sure, to the real Belle. It’s not a biopic, it’s an exploration of who we think a person like this might’ve been and why she did what she did.”
Apple Cider Vinegar, streaming on Netflix