"It's crazy that we're doing the show together and have to be those people together," Van Patten, 28, who has just taken on her biggest role to date portraying Amanda Knox in an all-new Hulu limited series, tells PEOPLE. "It's hilarious."

After signing on to star in Hulu's "The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox," the actor only had two months to prepare for the role: "It was nice to kind of have a fire under me."