Elin Hilderbrand Readers The perfect couple are familiar with the story of Celeste, the book's protagonist who is about to marry into one of Nantucket's wealthiest families. In the Netflix adaptation, however, the character, played by Eve Hewson, is instead called Amelia, and it turns out that the change can be traced back to Nicole Kidman.
Kidman plays Greer, Amelia's soon-to-be mother-in-law who has spared no expense in planning her son's wedding; however, on the morning of the ceremony, a dead body washes up on the beach, and the family's secrets are slowly revealed. There are several changes between the book and the series, as showrunner Jenna Lamia said Hilderbrand gave her full freedom to deviate from what she had written.
“It was a five-year development process for various reasons, so it went through many different forms, and it was closer to the book in the beginning,” Lamia said. The Hollywood Reporter at the Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday. “And then this wonderful director Susanne Bier came along and her influence changed some things, and when we got the cast, that changed some things, little things like Nicole's character is Greer, but then there's the character that Eve plays, who in the book was called Celeste. But Nicole plays a Celeste in Big Little Lies —that's the Celeste, so just to avoid any potential confusion, one very small reason, that's exactly what he chose to change it.
Lamia also added a third child for Greer and husband Tag (played by Liev Schreiber) to launch a first-love storyline, and “even the things that are internal to the characters in the book, I had to find a way to bring them out and make them active and external, which is why the ending is different — sorry, no spoilers!”
Hilderbrand has written 30 novels, but this is the first screen adaptation of his work; with more currently in the works, including The five-star weekend at Peacock — stressed, “I hope this is the domino that sets everything off, that's all I can hope for.”
The author also reiterated her desire to change her story, explaining, “I wanted them to make the best TV show possible, I wasn't worried about how they were going to change the book. I told Jenna from the beginning, I don't feel precious about this. People can go read the book later or earlier; it'll be a different experience because it's a little different, they can see how they changed it, and I just wanted it to be great TV.”
The show, a star-studded crime thriller centered on the elite, has drawn comparisons to Big Little Lies AND The White Lotusand you get to see stars of both. Along with Kidman, who told red carpet reporters of the genre, “I like things where you don't know how they're going to end and you go for a ride. So I hope this show is a great ride” — Meghann Fahy also appears in the series, following her work on the second season of The White Lotus.
Fahy said that building her crime resume wasn't intentional, however: “I think it's less about what I like and more about what people seem to like, which is obviously what it is, because that's why it keeps popping up everywhere. It wasn't really something I was looking for in that way, but it's also the kind of show I would like to watch.”
The perfect couplewhich also stars Billy Howle, Dakota Fanning and Jack Reynor, is now available to stream on Netflix.