In the #booktok era, it’s no surprise to see a star-studded TV show pop up based on a famous crime novel series that’s sold over 120 million copies worldwide.
But the new binge-worthy treat Scarpetta has actually been decades in the making, with failed attempts at an adaptation of the Patricia Cornwell books, which could have starred Helen Mirren, Demi Moore or Angelina Jolie in the lead role.
Then, more than 30 years after the first novel Postmortem was released, Jamie Lee Curtis bought the rights and went to Nicole Kidman to be co-Executive Producer and star.
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The project was a no-brainer for Kidman, whose mum Janelle and sister Antonia were fans of the crime fiction.
“My sister and my mother were obsessed with the novels, so I would read them,” she told Associated Press (AP) at the show’s New York premiere earlier this month.
“When I mentioned it to my sister, she was like, ‘Well, I mean, that’s it. You have to do it.'”
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Kidman stars as the lead character in the series, Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, with Curtis playing her man-crazy author sister Dorothy.
It wasn’t the first time Kidman had considered playing Kay Scarpetta but the timing and the scripts weren’t right previously, she said.
“It was going to be a film but then, timing as we know is just … fate is fate and things come around when they come around, so [I feel] fortunate to have been given this role now, when I feel like I can play her,” Kidman told Entertainment Tonight at the premiere.
Curtis marvelled that her 1990s self – when the first book was released – would never have guessed what was to come 36 years later.
“Not only being co-bosses on a show, but then also playing her slutty sister. I was not imagining that as my future,” she told AP at the premiere.
In addition to the Oscar-winning Curtis and Kidman, the all-star cast bringing the adaptation to life also includes Simon Baker, Bobby Cannavale and fellow Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose.
Lookalike casting
Curtis, 67, and Kidman, 58, play the older versions of sisters Dorothy and Kay Scarpetta, with the TV series based on the 29-book series running in two timelines, set 28 years apart.
The key to this working was the casting.
British actress Rosy McEwen was considered a dead ringer for Kidman even before getting the gig – thanks to having the same agent as Kidman.
But the 32-year-old told nine.com.au she and Kidman both don’t see the resemblance.
“It’s funny … I’m like, ‘Thank you so much, [but] I don’t really see it’ and people that know me very well, don’t really see it,” she said with a laugh while promoting series Black Mirror last year.
“Also, when I asked Nicole about it, we were both like, ‘Hmm, so weird’.”
“There was nobody else but her, which is a beautiful thing to be able to say to an actor” Kidman told Richard Wilkins on Today of the casting (watch clip above).
”It’s always been you Rosy!”
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In perhaps the most perfect casting of all, Bobby Cannavale’s oldest son Jake Cannavale plays the younger version of his character Pete Marino, a police officer and Dorothy’s husband.
Rose Byrne’s stepson previously worked alongside his famous dad in Nurse Jackie, back in 2012.
“The preparation was, honestly, it was pretty cerebral,” Jake told People magazine at the show’s premiere.
“We worked together 15 years ago playing father and son, and all of our scenes were together, but this time we don’t have any scenes together.”
Baker’s former The Mentalist co-star Amanda Righetti plays a younger version of Curtis’ character Dorothy.
While Baker’s younger self – FBI agent Benton Wesley and Kay’s husband – is played by Weeds actor Hunter Parrish.
How Kidman’s family helped her
It wasn’t just her late mum’s love of the books that Kidman credited with helping her in this role.
The Aussie actress told USA Today watching medical shows while growing up with Janelle, a nursing instructor, as well as her clinical psychologist dad Antony, gave her the strong stomach to play a forensic pathologist.
”That’s how I learned so much about life … they would go, ‘Watch this medical film’,” she said.
“My sister and I’d be like, ‘You’re kidding!’
“So I don’t have a fear of blood or anything. So when I learned to do the autopsies, say, I was just like, ‘OK, teach me.'”
Kidman told Good Morning America she now knows “all the organs and what comes out first and how you contain them” – a fact she reiterated while chatting to Wilkins.
The Australian actress also revealed she relates to her character, who became fixated on death after the murder of her father, given the sudden loss of her own dad in 2014.
“I lost my father and my main thing was finding out why,” she told USA Today.
“I lost him very suddenly to a heart attack, but I wanted to know why, and it became an obsession.
“So I get why Kay chooses to do the job, because it gives her a sense of control over something that is completely uncontrollable.”
Will there be a Season 2?
Baker confirmed on Today that Season 2 is in the pipeline and he’s returning to Nashville to film the next series.
Curtis previously hinted there’d be more to come beyond the eight-episode series that’s just been released, especially given the trove of material they have to work off.
“We’re marrying two of the books, episode by episode, connecting the crimes in both books, and then seeing how the characters have developed over these 30 years,” Curtis told Entertainment Weekly.
“Season by season, we’re going to be doing two books at a time, and Patricia is continuing to write current Scarpetta books.
“And we’ve already mapped out the pairings…it’s like wine pairings…these are pairings of crime books that are going to tell a similar story that we can tell over two different time periods.”
Scarpetta is out on Prime Video now.
Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan.
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