Emmy award-winning actress Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) participated in a global press conference with members of the media about starring in “Imperfect Women” on Apple TV.
In this new psychological thriller TV series, nothing stays secret forever. It is based on Araminta Hall’s novel of the same name. It will be available to stream on Apple TV on March 18th.
Moss stars as Mary alongside Kerry Washington (as Eleanor) and Kate Mara (as Nancy). Both Moss and Washington serve as executive producers of the series.
“Imperfect Women” examines a crime that shatters the lives of three women in a decades-long friendship.
The unconventional thriller explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that irrevocably alter our lives.
As the investigation unravels, so does the truth about how even the closest friendships may not be what they seem.
Moss on how directing has changed her relationship with acting
On directing changing her relationship with acting, she said with a sweet laugh, “The big thing that directing changed was that I appreciate acting so much more.”
“I’ve been doing this for so long, and I thought, ‘it’s not that hard to do.’ After becoming a director and seeing what an actor can do for you and how they bring something to life, they can save you, they can make something that wasn’t working sing,” she elaborated.
“Actors can just bring you to your knees when you are watching them on the monitor, and I get chills just talking about it,” she admitted.
Moss revealed that the first episode she ever directed was for “The Handmaid’s Talent,” where she got to work with Ann Dowd a lot.
“I would just sit at the monitor —when I wasn’t actually in a scene with her — and I would just bawl and just be so grateful for what she was giving me,” Moss said.
“As a director was where I discovered that actors are amazing and they are so important,” she underscored. “So, that was the main thing.”
Moss on whether she would consider directing ‘Imperfect Women’
When asked if she would ever consider directing an episode of “Imperfect Women,” Moss said, “I did consider it, but to be honest, when we were getting down to directors for ‘Imperfect Women’ —I had just directed the first two and the last two episodes of the final season of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale ’ three months after having my child — so I decided to take a little breather this summer.”
“I decided to be a part of a wonderful ensemble,” Moss admitted. “I was going to let somebody else do that job. So, it was very specifically a ‘no’ for that reason.”
Working with Kerry Washington and Kate Mara
On working with Kerry Washington and Kate Mara, Moss remarked, “Working with these two women was a really beautiful experience in many ways. They present themselves in a way that was very inspiring to see.”
“They are both people who are very authentic. They recognize the things that they do well,” she said.
“They recognize where they might need help and I never felt like I was dealing with the person on set versus the person who maybe was at home or the person behind the scenes,” she elaborated.
“It felt like I was around authentic people, and that’s inspiring to be around. We’re always trying to improve ourselves and become our best version of ourselves,” Moss added.
Moss on navigating the gap between the person people think she is vs. who she truly is
“Imperfect Women” explores how close friends can love a version of us that is not entirely real. As public figures, they have to navigate the gap between the person that people think they are vs. who they actually are.
“I feel like regardless of whether or not you’re a public figure, that is something that we kind of deal with, as people,” Moss observed.
“I think you minimize the gap between what people perceive you as and who you really are and being truthful to yourself and being truthful to others. Also, being your honest, authentic self,” she underscored.
“As an actor, I’ve been working and I’ve had some success, and that did make me feel a little bit more confident, and it makes you feel like you can be more like yourself and that’s okay,” she elaborated.
“I think it has always been important to me to try to have those two people be the same,” she noted.
“You can’t control what people think about you all the time, or you can’t control some things about your image that may or may not be true. I think that I try as much as possible to be as authentic as I can,” Moss explained.
Moss on how the project evolved from when she first read the book in 2019 vs. when she began developing the show
On the evolution of the project from the book to the show, she stated, “It’s a very rare thing with this. People have asked me, ‘Should I read the book first?’ or ‘Should I watch the show first?’ and I’ve been able to say, ‘Either’.”
“I feel like they’re different enough in really key ways, and I won’t tell you which ways, but they’re different enough that you won’t have certain things spoiled for you,” she said.
“It’s very unique situation where you would have a great time reading the book and be excited and surprised, and then you could totally have the same feelings with the show. I do feel like there’s a lot of deepening, obviously, in the book. There is more character development,” she elaborated.
“It’s a book and it’s just different. So, you get a little bit more of something, which is kind of fun, and then, you can watch the show. I would say there are some key things that have changed, but I can’t say what,” she explained.
“The most important thing for me was to figure out the structure of the show because the book has a very specific structure where it goes Eleanor, Nancy, and Mary,” she said.
“Then, it changes and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘how about we tell this story from the dead woman’s perspective?’ and you get this whole story, and it’s totally different than what you thought it was and changes your perspective on this person’s story,” she expanded.
Moss continued, “Obviously, it happens again when you come to Mary and everything changes again. I fell in love with that structure when I read the book. That was the most important thing to try to preserve.”
“Luckily, we were able to figure out keeping the structure of the book with the different points of view, and that’s my favorite part of the show,” she added.
Moss on her definition of a ‘friendship’
On her definition of a friendship, Moss revealed, “I have three kind of best friends and we’ve all been friends for over 20 years at this point. I’ve known them all since I was 20 or younger, and I was not a person that anyone cared about when we became friends.”
“I was not in the public eye, really,” she noted. “So, they are friendships that are based on really knowing each other and really knowing who the other person is.”
“I feel like that, to me, is really important in a friendship… loving the person while really knowing who they are and being able to help them with the things that they may want help,” she said.
“Also, accepting them for the things that they might consider flaws or are actual flaws. To me, that’s the most important thing about a friendship,” she acknowledged.
Moss on what the show says about life decisions, emotions and staying true to oneself
On what the show says about life decisions, emotions, and staying true to oneself, Moss said, “I think what attracted me very initially — when I first read the book in 2019 — was the exploration of female friendship as an honest thing and as something that is not even striving to be perfect.”
“There’s no idea of perfection there,” she admitted. “So, I think there was an honest look at friendship that was important to me. Then, it was kind of wrapped up in this delicious, sexy, fun, thrilling and scary wild ride that was on the surface.”
“To me, that was just something I like to personally watch,” she noted.
“If you want to look deeper and if you want to look at the more complicated things about the show, you’ve got that, too. I love to watch those kinds of things,” she added.
Moss reveals her favorite sandwich
When asked about what her favorite sandwich is, Moss disclosed, “Turkey with Swiss cheese and tomato on sourdough. That’s my go-to.”
Closing thoughts on ‘Imperfect Women’
On what she hopes the audience takes away from “Imperfect Women,” especially about navigating complex relationships with imperfect people,” she said, “I think that secrets — specifically the secrets about our vulnerabilities and our mistakes — are the things that really break these friendships and the things that really end up actually emotionally hurting the characters, but also, sometimes actually putting them in physical harm.”
“If there’s like a lesson or a thing that I hope people take from it, is those secrets and lack of communication and being so worried about somebody not liking you or somebody being mad at you, or somebody judging you, it’s those things that can really break up friendships,” she elaborated.
“I think that these three women, unfortunately, and some of us, it’s a little too late to learn. My characters and Kerry’s character have to go on that journey,” she concluded.
