Nine Perfect Strangers: everything we know about the new Liane Moriarty drama starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy
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- Jessica Rapana
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Loved Big Little Lies? Nine Perfect Strangers is a new Liane Moriarty adaptation coming to Hulu soon – watch this space for your latest TV thriller addiction.
Big Little Lies was the compulsively watchable HBO drama that had us hooked through its two-season run – and now creator David E. Kelley is bringing another Liane Moriarty adaptation to our TV screens.
Nine Perfect Strangers is based on Moriarty’s novel by the same name, and follows a group of troubled grown-ups who are pitched together at a remote health resort led by an enigmatic, cult-like figure.
Hulu has announced this week that the psychological thriller, starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy, will be coming very soon.
Having worked together on Big Little Lies, Kelley and Kidman are also the dream team behind another of our must-watch dramas this year – Sky Atlantic’s The Undoing.
Add in Moriarty’s pitch-perfect skill for slow-brewing suspense, and we have high hopes for what Nine Perfect Strangers has to offer us leading into 2021. Here’s everything you need to know about the miniseries, which has been filmed in Australia.
What is Nine Perfect Strangers about?
Nine strangers are thrown into one another’s lives as they arrive together for an intensive programme at a much-hyped wellness retreat tucked away in the Australian outback. Each has their own reasons for checking in, from grief-stricken parents to a struggling novelist and a Lottery-winning couple whose marriage is on the edge.
The resort is run by Masha, a glamorous-yet-elusive figure who is on a mission to reinvigorate her guests – and possibly mess with their minds. The writer, Francis, is grappling with a broken heart, but she soon becomes transfixed by the retreat’s charismatic-yet-mysterious host.
Is Masha really as devoted to wellbeing as she seems? Or is there something more sinister lurking beneath the surface of her clean-living facade?
Who is involved in Nine Perfect Strangers?
An all-star cast awaits for this shiny new drama. Melissa McCarthy plays one of the protagonists, lost-soul novelist Francis, as well as serving as an executive producer for the show. This marks the actor’s first leading TV role since her 2016 Emmy-winning performance in Mike & Molly.
Nicole Kidman will join the Bridesmaids star in the executive producer’s chair. And like McCarthy, she will also star in the miniseries, as the resort’s ethereal leader Masha.
Alongside Kidman, author Liane Moriarty and creator David E. Kelley complete the Big Little Lies reunion on the show.
Other confirmed cast members include The Hobbit star Luke Evans, who plays divorce lawyer and serial health retreat guest Lars, and Home and Away actor Samara Weaving as Jessica; a high-maintenance Lottery winner whose marriage to Ben (Melvin Gregg) is crumbling.
Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Shannon and Offspring star Asher Keddie play bereaved couple Napoleon and Heather, with Grace Van Patten as their adult daughter, Zoe. Support the Girls’ Regina Hall takes on the part of Carmel, a single mother-of-four who has been cheated on by her husband. Will & Grace actor Bobby Cannavale plays Tony, a one-time major sports star. Other cast members include Manny Jacinto and Tiffany Boone.
Is there a trailer for Nine Perfect Strangers?
Not yet, but watch this space.
When will Nine Perfect Strangers air?
The limited series is set to air on Hulu in 2021.We already have our decadent Nutella hot chocolate on standby for this prime slice of TV thriller viewing.
Image: Getty