Robin Wright knows there’s a familiarity to her Prime Video limited series The Girlfriend. “It’s been done before, right? The two alpha females, the cats in the room wanting to kill each other and not wanting to relent.” And there is indeed plenty of that in The Girlfriend, which stars Wright as a powerful London art gallery owner who is almost immediately at odds with her son’s new girlfriend, Cherry, played by Olivia Cooke.
But it was the chance to put a spin on that kind of classic rivalry that interested Wright, 60, and her co-star Laurie Davidson, 34, who plays her son, Daniel. Both joined me for a special live recording of the Prestige Junkie podcast in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, following a screening of the season’s third episode — one of three directed by Wright, who is also an executive producer on the series.
“Robin created an atmosphere and an environment where things were being tried out all the time,” says Davidson. “We might shoot like three different versions of a scene, and in the end Robin would choose which one fits the best. It was incredibly flexible, and that was a really exciting room to be in.”
Many productions will allow the actors to try out different versions of a scene and hone it down in the editing room. But on The Girlfriend, those alternate versions are essential to the story, as viewers often see the same scene play out twice — once from Cherry’s perspective and once from Wright’s character, Laura’s. Line deliveries that sound sympathetic from Laura’s point of view can become menacing from Cherry’s, and vice versa.
“There’s so much misdirection in this show,” Davidson continues. “We’re aware that our audiences are forming allegiances, and then you pull the rug out from under them. You can just take everything they thought they knew about someone and then take that away.”
Wright spent five years developing the series, an adaptation of Michelle Frances‘ novel, and says that while watching other TV shows, she realized how to set The Girlfriend apart. “How can we keep it based in realism so that it’s not too far-fetched?” Wright asked herself. “Because Euphoria succeeded with that — it is so over the top and real. It has made the audience expect ‘Wow!’ People need that excitement of White Lotus season one. How do we keep ’em on edge, keep it realistic, exciting and a thriller? The word they use in England — we really want it to be delicious.”
Watch my live conversation with Wright and Davidson to hear much more about how they made The Girlfriend delicious, and what Wright loved the most about making a show she calls a “wonderful beast.” Thanks to everyone who joined us for our live event, and thanks to Prime Video for making it possible!
