Nine perfect strangers on a cosmic trip
Print Edition
Tune in to catch 鈥淣ine Perfect Strangers,鈥 and you鈥檒l find drama and suspense. But underneath the hood you might also see some heady stuff, says star Nicole Kidman.
鈥淚t kind of delves into some of the biggest existentialist questions,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat is reality? What place can you choose to exist in? Can we alter that? Is there another reality that we can access that maybe is a more desired reality?鈥
The Hulu limited series that began on Wednesday is definitely ambitious, centering on nine troubled people attending a remote Northern California wellness retreat. Kidman plays Masha, the spa鈥檚 mysterious guru who has an unusual treatment method involving psychedelics.
The strangers include an unhappy romance writer, a former football star, a bored couple, a simmering-with-anger divorcee, a mysterious gay man and three members of a family grieving the loss of a fourth. Their 10-day retreat is told over eight episodes 鈥 like an Agatha Christie-style parlor mystery mashed with an adult version of 鈥淭he Breakfast Club.鈥
The series was adapted by David E. Kelley and John Henry Butterworth from Liane Moriarty鈥檚 2018 novel of the same name. The show鈥檚 cast is impressive, with Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving and Michael Shannon.
鈥淚 loved that there were so many characters in it that I felt were so truly three-dimensional,鈥 said McCarthy, who plays the novelist. 鈥淭hey were complicated, and people are messy. And I thought that鈥檚 how real people are. I don鈥檛 know any perfect people. I wouldn鈥檛 know how to play someone perfect.鈥
Some of the issues the series deals with are addiction, the warping influence of social media, emotional suppression, imposter syndrome and the complicated nuances of mourning. The nine visitors 鈥 as well as the spa staff, including Masha 鈥 are hurting in some way.
鈥淲hat would you do to take away the pain? How far would you go?鈥 asked Kidman. 鈥淭hose questions are really interesting to me, particularly when they鈥檙e put in an entertaining format.鈥
Cannavale, who plays the former football star, read the script after having just finished Michael Pollan鈥檚 2018 book 鈥淗ow to Change Your Mind,鈥 which explores the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. The actor jumped at the chance to show another way to treat depression.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been treating people the same way for years. And we鈥檝e been kind of ignoring this alternative way of treating it,鈥 he said. 鈥淢aybe people who have never heard of this go, 鈥業s that real?鈥 And they鈥檒l do a little dive on their phone and go, 鈥極h, my God, it is real.鈥欌
McCarthy and Hall, who plays the repressed divorcee, were attracted to the show鈥檚 message of appreciating the messiness of life and piercing through peoples鈥 overly processed, manufactured and edited portraits on social media.
鈥淚 think once you recognize the flaw in someone else, you can see the flaw in yourself and that flaw can become beautiful,鈥 said Hall. 鈥淎s soon as you can see the beauty in someone else鈥檚 flaw, then you don鈥檛 have to look at yours so badly.鈥
The series arrives at an opportune time to be talking about mental health, with the lockdowns for the pandemic making depression and isolation a cultural issue, as well as the Olympics bringing mental wellness to the fore.
鈥淚 think the last year and a half have given us wonderful opportunities to reflect and actually sit with what we have been doing,鈥 said Hall. 鈥淒uring that pause, it鈥檚 good for people to say 鈥業t鈥檚 okay for me to be honest. It鈥檚 okay to not be okay.鈥 Not only is it okay to not be okay, it鈥檚 okay to say I鈥檓 not okay.鈥
While the show is set in a remote part of California, filming actually took place in the southeastern Australian coastal town of Byron Bay, this 鈥渕agic bubble where there was no COVID,鈥 said McCarthy.
Australians took COVID-19 safety very seriously, escorting the cast and their loved ones by military to hotel rooms and quarantining them for 15 days with a guard outside. Masks and tests continued on set.
鈥淭hey were not kidding around. Their protocols were intense,鈥 said McCarthy, who traveled with her family. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nobody to clean your room. Nobody changed your sheets. You were just there and had some self-reflection.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
