In the book: Lexie, the oldest Richardson child, is best understood when you read between the lines. On the surface, she seems like a two-dimensional girl's girl who has it all together. Her plan is to go to Yale and raise a family in Shaker Heights with her boyfriend, Brian. But when Pearl enters the picture, Lexi begins to the lean on the town transplant in a way that reveals the cracks in her mask as she slowly unravels.
On the show: Pettyjohn nails the complexity of Lexie's character by really tapping into her struggle to be the perfect child. She has the same goal of attending Yale and living a cookie-cutter life, but she appears to be more self-aware of her wrongdoings along the way (i.e. using Pearl's experience with racial discrimination as her "inspiration" for her Yale application essay, using Pearl's name on the abortion papers instead of her own, using Pearl . . . in general). She ignorantly tries to justify her actions as much as possible, but her conscious certainly isn't clear. She is her mother's daughter.