news

‘The whole cast was in revolt’

Vaseline September 7, 2024

The cast of “The Perfect Couple” nearly rioted after director Susanne Bier insisted on a flash mob-style dance sequence for the opening credits.

Based on the book of the same name by Elin Hildebrand, this Netflix murder mystery follows a police investigation into the wealthy Winbury family after a body is found at a family wedding, revealing many long-buried secrets.

More from Variety

Despite the dark undertones, the show opens with a somewhat unusual routine that sees the entire cast – including Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning and Liev Schriber – dance in unison on the beach to Meghan Trainor’s “Criminals,” dressed in suits and evening gowns.

“I guess I felt like I wanted to do something where we were telling the audience, ‘This is going to be fun,’” Bier said Variety for its Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday night. “I find this time (period) a little bleak and I wanted to do something that was very lively and very fun. And I wanted to see all the characters having fun.”

The cast, however, were not convinced and even started a WhatsApp group message to try to stop the dance. Meghann Fahy, who plays social media influencer Merritt on the show, told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere Wednesday night: “Everyone in that group said they didn’t want to do this because we just didn’t understand it.”

“I have a really, really big problem with learning choreography, so I was really nervous about it,” she added.

Ishaan Khattar, who plays the best man Scooter, said that although he is a trained dancer, “I don’t think any of us would feel like doing this choreography in these characters. We were like, ‘Wait a minute, where does this fit into the picture? This wasn’t part of the brief!'”

It wasn’t just the cast that was skeptical; producers were also concerned about the time it would take to shoot the sequence, which was choreographed by Charm La’Donna. Bier came up with the idea after everyone returned to the set after an eight-month hiatus due to the WGA and SAG strikes last year.

“Normally you would spend a whole day, probably two days, shooting something like this and we did it in an hour and a half,” Bier revealed. “I had serious conversations (because everyone) was like, ‘Are you sure you want to spend time on this when we have such a short time?’ and I was like — I could hear myself thinking like a two-year-old — ‘I want it! I want it!'”

Nicole Kidman, who plays Winbury matriarch Greer, was among those who needed convincing. “Because I didn’t feel like Greer would dance! I felt like Greer would watch,” she said, admitting that she had joined the WhatsApp group. “But I danced like Greer. I love it and I’m so glad they let us all do it. Because there’s some joy in it.”

Only Schrieber, who plays Greer’s husband Tag Winbury, was up for it. “I wasn’t in that (WhatsApp) chain,” he said. “The whole cast was up in arms about it, except for me, who was in my trailer practicing the dance moves. I just like dancing and I was a little disappointed when it came out that I wasn’t in it anymore because I thought I was doing really well.”

La’Donna, meanwhile, had nothing but praise for the actors. “They learn quickly,” she said. “We all had fun, it was a nice day at the beach.”

Bier told La’Donna (who also happens to be Meghan Trainor’s choreographer) that she wanted “classic” dance moves influenced by films like “Saturday Night Fever.” The choreographer also incorporated some of the show’s themes into the routine, including a move where the cast points with alternate hands, symbolizing the murder mystery at the heart of the series. “When you see them pointing, you don’t know who’s who and what’s what,” La’Donna explained.

Despite initial resistance, everyone was ready to show off once the cameras rolled. “The honest truth is that at the end of the day we were really, really happy with it, we all gave in to it,” Fahy admitted. “It was so much fun and I actually think it’s weirdly amazing.”