When Jamie Lee Curtis’ blockbuster movie “True Lies” premiered worldwide, it might’ve been inconceivable to suppose that 30 years later she can be giddy a couple of TV present — about as inconceivable as performing her iconic helicopter stunt with out particular results.
“I guarantee you when I was … literally hanging under a helicopter above the Florida Keys over the Seven Mile Bridge in Florida, I did not imagine I’d be sitting in New York City that many years later with Nicole Kidman,” Curtis stated. “Not only being co-bosses on a show, but then also playing her slutty sister. I was not imagining that as my future.”
The Oscar winners co-executive produced and star in “Scarpetta,” a brand new thriller crime sequence from Prime Video, out March 11, based mostly on Patricia Cornwell’s fashionable books. Curtis credit Kidman as one of many main Hollywood gamers who helped shrink the gulf between perceptions of movie and TV roles with status sequence like “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers.”
Kidman, 58, performs the titular character Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a forensic pathologist who solves complicated murders. Upon returning to Virginia, she comes throughout instances eerily harking back to one three a long time prior that catapulted her profession ahead. To put together for the position, Kidman frolicked with a health worker in Tennessee, the place she realized how one can maintain a scalpel, and how one can determine and dissect organs.
“My sister and my mother were obsessed with the novels, so I would read them,” the Emmy-winning Kidman stated. “When I mentioned it to my sister, she was like, ‘Well, I mean, that’s it. You have to do it.’”
The e-book rights to Cornwell’s iconic fiction sequence had been optioned all through the years with megastars generally hooked up, together with actors Demi Moore, Angelina Jolie, and even Kidman beforehand. But these iterations did not come to fruition.
At the 2021 Oscars, Kidman approached Curtis’ desk and launched herself — they’d by no means met, regardless of working in comparable circles for many years. Months later, when Kidman heard Curtis was main the cost on “Scarpetta,” she needed in.
“I have a philosophy where characters come to you at the right time,” Kidman stated. When she first thought of taking part in Kay Scarpetta, the timing wasn’t proper, and neither had been the scripts. But the second time, all of it got here collectively. “Here she is, and I’m prepared now,” she stated, reflecting on her resolution to embrace the mission.
Curtis performs Scarpetta’s free-spirited sister Dorothy. The “Halloween” franchise star had no intention of appearing within the present however agreed to at Kidman’s request. The eight-episode season was led by showrunner Liz Sarnoff, whose credit embrace “Lost” and “Barry,” and can also be a longtime fan of the books.
The solid consists of Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale as Pete Marino, Kay’s ex-partner and Dorothy’s husband and “The Mentalist” star Simon Baker, who performs FBI profiler and Scarpetta’s husband Benton Wesley. Another Oscar winner, Ariana DeBose, is Dorothy’s tech-savvy daughter, primarily raised by Kay.
A companion storyline set within the ’90s follows the physician’s early profession, with Rosy McEwen, who bears a placing resemblance to Kidman, portraying the youthful model. Jake Cannavale — Bobby’s precise son — performs the younger Marino, with Hunter Parrish portraying babyfaced Benton.
DeBose, who introduced Curtis along with her Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” was provided the position in a private textual content message from Curtis. Her character, Lucy, is grieving her useless spouse and seeks consolation in an AI duplicate. It’s a pivot for an actor identified for upbeat Broadway performances.
“I hope audiences will also find a way to have compassion for her,” stated the 35-year-old, of a fictional character that had real-life reverberations. Five months after filming, DeBose confronted a lack of her personal when her mom died. “I’m more clear now than I was when I was actually shooting this series … that grief manifests in very different ways.”
Cornwell, who has bought greater than 120 million copies of the “Scarpetta” sequence worldwide, was closely concerned within the adaptation.
“Dream come true — literally,” stated the New York Times bestseller, who began the sequence in 1990. The 69-year previous, who started penning “Postmortem” whereas working within the workplace of Virginia’s chief health worker, is presently writing the thirtieth e-book centered round a serial poisoner. She says Kidman and Curtis uncovered new layers of her beloved characters.
“I’m learning things from them,” she said. “When I sit back and I’m working on my book, suddenly I’m seeing Jamie in my head, or I’m hearing Nicole. My characters have come alive.”
Prime has discovered huge success with fashionable novel variations like “Reacher,” “Jack Ryan,” the “Bosch” universe and “Cross,” all possessing deep troves of supply materials. They’re betting “Scarpetta” will likely be their subsequent huge hit.
Kidman, whose divorce from nation music star Keith Urban was finalized in January, has a busy slate of upcoming initiatives, together with the sequence “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Girls and Their Horses” and “Discretion,” in addition to the movies “The Young People” and “Practical Magic 2.”
Curtis hopes the sequence, produced by her firm Comet Pictures, evokes younger girls within the trade with one other mannequin for management, each in entrance of and behind the digital camera.
“I hope that they see people — women — doing all these different jobs. This show doesn’t exist without me calling Jason Blum, saying, ‘Hey, I found out that the rights to Patricia’s books are available. Let’s (expletive) go!’” said Curtis, recalling her conversation with the Blumhouse Television founder, who helped produce it. “They will hear that and go, ‘Oh, that’s how you get (expletive) done!’ You persevere.”
Two “Scarpetta” seasons had been ordered, and Curtis has famously stated she is going to depart appearing earlier than Hollywood leaves her. Could extra success delay her plan although?
“When my parents were in their heyday, they were enormous movie stars. There is a point where the industry just moves on. … I want to be able to end it on my own terms … I’ve been saying that since I was 30,” stated the 67-year-old Emmy winner. “I want to be able to walk away with the dignity and pride in my work, and not kind of be grasping at something that’s fading away.”
“Pay no attention to her,” Kidman interrupted, and stated to Curtis, “We’re not listening to that as a result of we’re asking you to remain endlessly.”
The two teased one another playfully, like real-life sisters.
“She will be working well past 100, probably,” Kidman said, “And we’ll all be going, ‘That’s an inspiration.’”
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