Nicole Kidman Plays Tough Matriarch in Murder Mystery 'The Perfect Couple'

Actor Nicole Kidman attends the UK premiere of the TV series "The Perfect Couple" at the BFI IMAX in London, Britain, September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mina Kim
Actor Nicole Kidman attends the UK premiere of the TV series "The Perfect Couple" at the BFI IMAX in London, Britain, September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mina Kim
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Nicole Kidman Plays Tough Matriarch in Murder Mystery 'The Perfect Couple'

Actor Nicole Kidman attends the UK premiere of the TV series "The Perfect Couple" at the BFI IMAX in London, Britain, September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mina Kim
Actor Nicole Kidman attends the UK premiere of the TV series "The Perfect Couple" at the BFI IMAX in London, Britain, September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mina Kim

Nicole Kidman brings murder mystery "The Perfect Couple" to the small screen in a new Netflix mini-series in which she plays a matriarch of a wealthy American family with plenty of secrets.
The six-part show, adapted from the 2018 novel by Elin Hilderbrand, stars Eve Hewson as zookeeper Amelia Sacks who is marrying into one of the richest families on Nantucket.
Kidman plays her disapproving future mother-in-law, murder mystery novelist Greer Garrison Winbury, who has organized a lavish wedding at the family home over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
When a body washes up ashore on the day of the nuptials, however, secrets unravel and an investigation begins.
"I grew up on (murder mysteries) and... I haven't seen one like this for a while, so it was really exciting to be a part of it and to be able to produce it as well," Kidman told Reuters at the series' UK premiere in London on Monday.
The Oscar winner said the role was "so different" to the one she plays in "Babygirl", an erotic drama she premiered at the Venice Film Festival last week.
"(Greer is) strong and, and powerful and that was exciting to play... I'm always on this quest to find things that I haven't done or have different experiences," she said.
Liev Schreiber plays family patriarch Tag, a role the actor said he needed "some convincing" taking on.
"But once I talked to (director) Susanne Bier for about two weeks and Nicole (Kidman), I just realized how deliciously dark and wonderful this was going to be so it worked out,” he said.
Meanwhile Hewson's character is the outsider.
“I was a little bit jealous of the Winburys (family characters) just because they have amazing one liners," she said. "I was the grounded one... the serious one."
The series cast also includes Dakota Fanning, Meghann Fahy, Jack Reynor, Billy Howle, Sam Nivola and Ishaan Khatter.
"The Perfect Couple" premieres on Netflix on Thursday.



Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open before the Election

 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
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Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open before the Election

 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)

After struggling to drum up interest following its Cannes Film Festival premiere, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, has found a distributor that plans to release the film shortly before the election in November.

Briarcliff Entertainment will release “The Apprentice” on Oct. 11 in US and Canadian theaters, just weeks before Americans cast their ballots on Nov. 5.

Director Ali Abbasi, the Danish Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized getting “The Apprentice” into theaters before voters head to the polls. After larger studios and film distributors opted not to bid on the film, Abbasi complained in early June on X that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, in a statement Friday called the film’s release “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November.”

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire,” Cheung said.

Part of what dampened interest in “The Apprentice” was the potential threat of legal action. After its Cannes premiere in May, Cheung called the movie “pure fiction” and said the Trump team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

“The Apprentice” chronicles Trump’s rise to power in New York real estate under the tutelage of defense attorney Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong).

Abbasi has argued Trump might not dislike the movie.

“I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi said in May.

Briarcliff Entertainment has released films including the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” The indie distributor is run by Tom Ortenberg, who at Lionsgate helped released Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and as chief executive of Open Road backed the best picture Oscar winner “Spotlight.”