New York Magazine - USA (2020-10-12)

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temporary Manhattan—specifically, the
ultraluxeUpperEast Side of brownstones,
privateschools,andbenefit dinners—it
hasbeenconsciously shaped as ever-so-
slightlyretro,one-episode-at-a-timetele-
vision,a psychological thrillerscheduledto
giveviewersa monthor so tofeelanxiety
aboutsomethingother thantheelection
results.(Which,ofcourse, mayormay not
beestablishedbythetime theseriesends
onNovember29.We’ll see.)
There’salmost a nostalgicpleasurein
that,andTheUndoing is athrowbackin
anotherwayaswell:Shotentirelyinand
around Manhattan and LongIslandover
six months in 2019, it may beNewYork
City’s last big television productionofthe
pre-covid days. Think of itasa timecap-
sule of that era’s innocent obsessions.The
drama—which focuses on awomanwho
happens to look like Kidmanandbe
married to a doctor who lookslike Hugh
Grant and who lives in a lovely, light-filled
townhouse and is completelyobliviousto
the fact that her world isabouttobe
upended—unfolds in a metropolis of
teeming sidewalks and crowdedcharity
auctions, of long unmaskedstrolls,com-
plaints about having too many social
engagements, kisses in elevators,andother,
more intimate encounters. Improbably,the
miniseries now plays like a loveletter
from an Australian actress, aBritishactor
(this is Grant’s first AmericanTVwork),
and a Danish director, SusanneBier,to
money-flaunting, class-anxious, pre-
lockdown New York. “It wasshotjust a
year ago,” says one of the producers,Ste-
phen Garrett. “There were,I think, 110
productions shooting in NewYorkthen,
and one of our great struggles[was]to
keep other people’s trucks outoftheback
of our shot.” In other words,itwasthe
good old days, which, atthetime,we
complained about endlessly.
The process of bringingTheUndoing

to the screen began several years ago,

when its writer-producer, the TV veteran

David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal),

read You Should Have Known. Jean Hanff

Korelitz’s 2014 noveltellstheslightly

Schadenfreudianstory ofGraceSachs,a

40-somethingtherapistabouttopublish

a self-helpbookreprovingwomenfor

willfullyignoringalltheterrible,com-

pletelyapparenttraitsoftheirromantic

partnersandthenbeingshockedwhenit

allgoessour. GraceismarriedtoJona-

than, a too-good-to-be-truepediatric

oncologist,and,naturally,shesoonfaces

a shrink-thyselfmomentwhenshelearns

thatthemanshethoughtsheknewhas

reallybeen...butI can’t go on.That

wouldbetelling,somethingeveryone

involvedinTheUndoingiscurrently

pretzelingtheirlanguage toavoiddoing.

Sufficeit tosay that (a)thenoveltakesan

unexpectedmidpointturnfromterrifying

melodrama to portrait of a woman

rebuildinghershatteredlife,and(b)

Kelley,whoat firstdidn’t thinktherewas

a TVshowinit,putthebookasideand

movedontotwoseasonsofBigLittle

Lies.“It wentmoreinthedirectionof

healingandpsychologicalexploration,”he

says.“It’sanexcellentbook,butit emo-

tionallyde-escalates,andintelevision,

youkindofneedtheopposite.”

Nevertheless,thecharactersstayedwith

him,asdidKorelitz’ssharpeyeforthe

vanitiesandpretensionsofManhattan’s

onepercent(andtheirobsessionwith

Manhattan’s.01 percent).“Theirlivesare

artificialconstructsina certainway,”Kel-

leysays.“Thebelief that ifyougetthe

rightjobandyourkidsgototheright

schoolandyoujumpthroughtheright

societalhoops—there’s anillusiontothat

construct, andwhat happenswhenthe

perpetrators ofthat illusionbegin to

believetheirownfalsenarratives?”

KelleyandKidmanhadalreadyforged

a good working relationship, and she

liked his instinct to push the material

sharply in the direction of suspense—to

turn the story into more of a whodunit

thanthenovelis (nospoilersaboutwhat

the“it”in“whodunit” is).Thoughsome

mayseetheresultasTheRealBigLittle

LiesofNewYorkCityin its silkenblending

ofveryspecificwealthpornwithcrime,

KidmannotesthatBigLittleLieswasabout

a womanintentionallykeepinga secret, not

“workingoffthefear, asthisdoes,that

everythingI haveis notwhat I reallyhave.”

Shesays,“Ilovepsychologicalthrillers

whenthey’rewelldone.I’vemadea few—

TheOtherswasprobablythelast timeI did

a reallypowerfulone—andthat element

seemedtobea hugepart ofthisseries.” It

alsofeelsconsistentwithmuchofKidman’s

recentwork;fromBigLittleLiestoThe

Goldfinch,shehasbeenassemblinga gallery

ofcharacterswhohavetroublelurkingjust

beneaththeveneeroftheirperfectlives.

ThatelementalsoappealedtoBier, who

wonanOscarforBestForeignLanguage

Filmin 2011 forIna BetterWorldandan

Emmyin 2016 forherdirectionofthe

Johnle CarréadaptationTheNightMan-

ager.Onsomelimitedseries,thewriter-

produceris king(orqueen)andthedirec-

torsaretreatedashigh-endhiredguns.

That isn’t thecasewithBier, whonotonly

directedallsixhoursofTheUndoing,but

insistedonshootingtheepisodesasif

theywereonebigmovie,partlyoutofa

convictionthat workingonwildlydiffer-

entpartsofthestoryina singleweek—or

sometimesa singleday—wouldinfuse

theproductionwithenergy andkeep

everyoneontheirtoes.

“I cameinasDavidhadfinishedthefirst

draft ofthefirstepisode,” Biersays,“when

it couldstillgo inthedirectionofeither

thrillerordrama.I said,‘I’mvery intrigued

bythepotentialofa thriller.’ I findit

incrediblyinteresting,that wholethingof

The CULTURE PAGES

PHOTOGRAPHS: MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (DEAD CALM); ALLSTAR PICTURE LIBRARY LTD./ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (FOUR WEDDINGS)

Th

old

performancesin

periodpieces.

GrantdoesthesameinFour

Weddingsanda Funeral, in a

differentmode. Whereshe’s

breathyandseductive, he’sbashful

andneurotic.Theirrelationships

(Grantis datingElizabethHurley)

es tablishthemastabloidstaples.

Grantis arrested

aftersoliciting

a prostitute;he

stepsaway

frommovies

fortwo

years.

missedconnections

THESTAR

TRAJECTORIES

OFNICOLE

KIDMANAND

HUGHGRANT

bynatejones

After a steady string of

Australian film roles, Kidman

breaks out as a young wife in

peril in Dead Calm. She goes

to Hollywood, gets cast in

many girlfriend parts, and, oh

yeah, marries Tom Cruise.

With her

darkly comic

role in To Die

For, Kidman

cements

herself as a

lead actress.

Then some

personal crises:

Kidman’s marriage

to Cruise collapses.

She takes an

11-month break

between movies.

It feelslike HughGrant

andNicoleKidman

mu th

eac ,

right?Nope.Their

pathsdidn’t crossuntil

now—buttheircareers

didfollowremarkably

similarpatterns.

MID-’90S:

FullFlower

LATE’80SANDEARLY’90S:

BuddingStardom

LATE ’90S:

Intermission