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WGA picket line halts production of Nicole Kidman Netflix series ‘The Perfect Couple’ on Cape Cod
The WGA has halted production on movies and TV series across America since going on strike May 2.
Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) halted production on the upcoming Netflix series “The Perfect Couple” in Cape Cod Tuesday morning, forcing producers to press pause on the Nicole Kidman murder mystery limited series.
Members of the WGA, who have been on strike since May 2 due to a breakdown in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), formed a picket line in Chatham on Tuesday, where “The Perfect Couple” has been filming since April.
Based on best-selling author Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel of the same name, “The Perfect Couple” is a six-episode series set — like most of Hilderbrand’s novels — on Nantucket.
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It’s July, and Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson, “Bad Sisters”) is about to marry Benji Winbury (Billy Howle, “Outlaw King”), part of the wealthiest family on the island. But when Amelia’s maid of honor turns up dead the morning of the wedding, everyone involved with the lavish nuptials is a suspect.
Kidman plays the role of Greer Garrison Winbury, the pampered, overbearing mother of the groom, while Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”) plays her husband, Tag.
Along with Kidman, Schreiber, Hewson and Howle, “The Perfect Couple” co-stars Dakota Fanning (“War of the Worlds”), Omar Epps (“House”), Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”), Ishaan Khattar (“A Suitable Boy”), Sam Nivola (“White Noise”), Mia Isaac (“Not Okay”), and Jack Reynor (“Midsommar”).
Members of the “Perfect Couple” film crew who belong to the Teamsters honored the WGA’s picket line Tuesday morning by not driving their trucks onto set, resulting in a shutdown of filming for the day.
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Thomas Mari, the president of Teamsters Local 25 in Boston, said that Teamsters “always honor picket lines.”
“Striking is a fundamental right that Teamsters Local 25 holds sacred,” Mari told Boston.com. “Our Brothers and Sisters from WGA can count on Teamsters across this country in this fight.”
Representatives for Netflix and Hilderbrand did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this article’s publication.
Deploying small teams of picketers wherever a film production is happening has been an effective tactic for the WGA in delaying the work of film studios.
Justin Baldoni, the director of “It Ends With Us,” an upcoming film set in Boston (though largely filmed in New Jersey) starring Blake Lively, announced on Friday he was halting production until the WGA strike is settled.
Shows including “The Chi,” “American Horror Story,” “Severance,” and “Billions” have all had production disrupted due to WGA picket lines. On the set of the Apple TV+ series “Loot,” star Maya Rudolph went to her trailer and refused to return to set in solidarity with the picketers, according to the New York Times.
“If your movie or TV show is still shooting and we haven’t shut it down yet, sit tight,” tweeted writer and WGA negotiating committee member Eric Haywood in May. “We’ll get around to you.”
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