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Courier-Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
Christine Baranski shares why Nicole Kidman kept distance on Nine Perfect Strangers set
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News. They may be Nine Perfect Strangers on screen, but behind the scenes the new cast of the drama series are anything but. Christine Baranski joins Nicole Kidman along with a star-studded line-up for season two, including Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, The White Lotus star Murray Bartlett, and Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy. But while the cast bonded during the six months they filmed in the snowy Austrian Alps, in a case of life imitating art, Kidman kept her distance on the series, which is now streaming on Prime Video. Christine Baranski attends the season two premiere of Nine Perfect Strangers at The Beverly Estate on May 15 in LA. Picture: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello Baranski joins Nicole Kidman on the second season of the hit show. Picture:MORE: Kidman forced to 'apologise' to her neighbours The Aussie actress reprises her role as Masha Dmitrichenko, a Russian wellness guru who uses unconventional and questionable methods to treat her guests as the fictional health retreat Zauberwald Although Masha is sociable and people are drawn to her, she is equally complex and enigmatic – and it appears Kidman maintained this persona off-screen too. 'We bonded, the nine of us. And when [Kidman] would come in, it was sort of exactly like it would be in the show, which is she comes in and we're all, what's she all about? What's she going to do? And so the chemistry was sort of exactly right for it,' Baranski, 73, told Baranski and Kidman are joined by Henry Golding, Mark Strong and Aussie actor Murray Bartlett in the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. Picture: Prime Video 'She's rather perfect for that role. The character of Masha is so mysterious and has her own backstory that's very, very complicated and interesting. And Nicole is really tall and statuesque, and her look in this show, I think, is particularly arresting. So she's just perfect for this inscrutable, intimidating character.' Baranski plays glamorous divorcee Victoria on the series. Picture: Prime Video Victoria's much younger boyfriend Matteo is played by Aras Aydın (centre). Picture: Prime Video Still, there was nothing that could keep Baranski away from the show or Kidman. 'It's such a no-brainer. My agent said it was Nicole Kidman and the second season of Strangers, which was already an established hit. Then he mentioned the talent that they were offering roles to various actors, and they were all extraordinary people. And then he said that it was going to film in Europe, in Munich and the Austrian Alps,' the Mamma Mia star shared. In season two, Baranski plays the glamorous and sensual Victoria, who enlists the help of Masha to repair her relationship with her daughter Imogen (played by Murphy). While they play an estranged mother-and-daughter duo, off-screen Murphy adored Baranski. Canadian actress Annie Murphy plays Baranski's on-screen daughter Imogen. Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP 'She is the hostess with the mostest and she's so generous. Anytime she'd go away [from set], she'd come back with cakes and treats and all these things for us,' Murphy told 'We were staying in this town called Halstadt in Austria, which is this beautiful fairytale town around this alpine lake. And we're staying in this beautiful hotel and the hotel backed onto the lake. 'Christine arranged this evening for us, and the sun was just setting and we walked out and there was champagne and beautiful tables set up. She'd curated this incredible classical playlist for us that was kind of echoing across this still, beautiful lake. And it was just magical.' Kidman and Baranski (back left) with the cast at the season two premiere in Beverly Hills. Picture:In the series, there is also magic between Baranski's Victoria and her much younger lover Matteo (played by Aras Aydın). There seems to be a chorus of age-gap romances playing out on screens across Hollywood lately, but Baranski says there is nothing salacious about this May-December romance. 'It was very easy because Aras is so emotionally free and available and he's beautiful and so passionate. We didn't have to work at that [chemistry],' she said. 'As you can see from early on in the first few episodes, it's not just some sexy older woman-hot guy relationship. There's an enormous kind of tenderness and caretaking and loveliness between us. 'We valued bringing that out more than the sexy part because it's transcends age. People can love each other long after they feel sexy or hot for each other. The tenderness and the intimacy is what is most lasting and interesting.' Nine Perfect Strangers season two is now streaming on Prime Video Originally published as Christine Baranski shares why Nicole Kidman kept distance on Nine Perfect Strangers set
Tatler Asia
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
‘Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 cast members share insights on the psychological drama series everybody's talking about
Above The official trailer of the second season of 'Nine Perfect Strangers'. The first two episodes will be made available on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video on May 22 (GMT+8) Meanwhile, Aras Aydin ( Oğlan Bizim Kız Bizim ) from Türkiye describes his excitement over the huge sets and the majestic natural landscape that welcomed them all. 'It was an exalting experience—being in the natural world, feeling such grandeur. We were all just in a state of enchantment, so that was way better than being just in a sound stage or wherever,' says two-time Tony winner Christine Baranski ( Mamma Mia! , The Gilded Age ). Aydin and Baranski play the roles of Matteo and Victoria, respectively, in a May-December affair which surprised Imogen (Annie Murphy), Victoria's daughter and supposedly her exclusive companion to the wellness programme. 'Its expansiveness added to the feeling of wanting to open up emotionally,' Baranski adds. Above Inside the chalet as the guests and their wellness guides, (standing) Martin and Masha, wait for them to be completed (Photo: Disney / Reiner Bajo) 'Because I was working with such extraordinary actors with so much depth, I've learned a lot about my feelings by sharing them,' Baranski continues. 'Yes, [the series] is about wellness and self-healing, and all. But honestly, you find healing through loving other people. Being loved and accepted is how you're ultimately healed,' she says. The communal and diverse cast of actors not only allows representation and inclusivity, but Baranski also thinks it is the core messaging of the show, among others. Turkish actor Aydin found parallels to his character, who initially enters the narrative as a threat, particularly to the character of Imogen, Victoria's daughter. 'Meeting a lot of beautiful hearts was healing me, so that was a life-changer, an incredible experience for me,' he says. Read more: Dolly de Leon's visceral performance in 'Request sa Radyo' is a masterclass in pensive acting Above Nicole Kidman plays Masha Dmitrichenko, who invites strangers into a transformational wellness retreat over the course of a week. Will they make it as she takes them to the brink? (Photo: Disney / Reiner Bajo) Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians , The Gentlemen ), who plays Peter Sharpe, Strong's son in the show, credits the expansion of the novel's original narrative (around which the first season revolved) to the series' director Jonathan Levine, who envisioned including more relevant elements in the show. Besides adding more variety to the mix of the 'nine perfect strangers', audiences get to see people who are personally close to the lead protagonist, Masha. 'Here, we've been able to develop and create a world of Jonathan Levine, so it was an incredible experience,' Golding says. 'We all bring something to our characters from our personal lives, so not only was it a crazy amalgamation of creativity but of stories and histories interacting with each other.' As another internationally acclaimed actor of Asian descent, De Leon shares her joyful experience of filming an on-location international series with such a diverse cast and with the iconic Australian actor Nicole Kidman. ' Saya! Sobrang saya at ang sarap-sarap nilang lahat katrabaho [It was fun! So much fun and it felt so good to work with them all],' she says ecstatically. 'They're all very loving, sweet, generous people, and I love that particular scene where we were all together, that for me was the most valuable as far as I'm concerned, because that was my chance to really share the set with all of them.' Above Lucas Englander as Martin, Zauberwald's pharmacologist and right-hand man of Masha, with Aras Aydin and Christine Baranski as Matteo and Victoria who came to the chalet as part of the batch of participants in the programme (Photo: Disney / Reiner Bajo) Revolving around themes of wellness and personal transformation, what sets the first season apart from other shows is the unravelling of Masha's unorthodox healing methods, pushing her guests to the brink through the aid of psychedelics. To what extent Masha's methods would develop in the second season, we can only wait for the episodes to drop on May 22 (GMT+8) on Amazon Prime Video, now that there is a complication in her personal life tied into the latest batch of 'perfect strangers'. 'The method of Masha can be put into question with regard to how effective it can be,' says De Leon. 'As for my character ex-nun Sister Agnes, who found herself unable to hear God's voice anymore, she had reservations over that method, and I believe that was justifiable. This is because she believes that it is important for us to move forward in order for us to remember all aspects of our past.' Above Mark Strong as David Sharpe, a wealthy international businessman (Photo: Disney / Reiner Bajo) 'I think in this day and age, people are a lot more open to therapy and its benefits,' Golding surmises. 'Mark and I have similar sentiments as to how we were taught as children to 'bury stuff', sucking it up and putting on a brave face. So the idea of travelling with these characters of ours to a place like Masha's or Zauberwald is an amazing one because you see how humans can reveal themselves and work through these traumatic events from their past.' As he plays the role of Peter, a wealthy bachelor lacking direction in life, he shares that his arc revolves around building a bridge of love to his father, David Sharpe, portrayed by Strong. Similarly, Baranski, who plays Imogen's (Annie Murphy) mother and Matteo's (Aras Aydin) paramour, also felt that the scenes they worked on together were not only vital for their characters' relationship-building but also were impactful as they required her vulnerability as a human being. Above Lena Olin plays the role of Dr Helena Von Falkenberg, owner of Zauberwald, whose shared history with Masha led to the relocation of the latter's famed wellness programme (Photo: Disney / Reiner Bajo) Nine Perfect Strangers is produced by Made Up Stories, Blossom Films and Fifth Season. It is available on Hulu (Disney) and Amazon Prime Video, with the second season commencing on May 22 (GMT+8). Asked what people could get out of this riveting series, each of the new cast members shares their varied insights. For Aydin, it's the lesson of not running away from your traumas and problems in life but rather facing them to be fully healed. For Baranski, it's the call for empathy, where we should realise that everybody in the world suffers, hence why don't we show humanity towards each other? It can be difficult, but it's not something to be ashamed of. For Strong, the possibility of someone changing for the better. Golding, whose character's motivation was to patch things up with his father through the promise of this unconventional therapy, shares that it's the reality that there's never one solution to all our diverse problems. 'I hope audiences come to realise that it's always important to remember the mistakes made in the past, and it's okay to fail and make missteps sometimes. Our failures are what would lead us to a brighter future because that's how we learn as humans,' De Leon concludes. NOW READ Aromatherapy: The art of using scent to soothe the soul and heal the body Tea from East to West: from solemn ritual to daily pleasure Detoxify and rejuvenate at these 6 luxurious wellness-centric resorts in Southeast Asia
New York Post
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Mamma Mia' star Christine Baranski reveals which co-star ‘hated' filming experience
He was not a Super Trouper. Christine Baranski has revealed that her 'Mamma Mia!' co-star Stellan Skarsgård wasn't particularly fond of his time working on the 2008 film. Based on the music of ABBA, the initial film was set on the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi. It followed a bride, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), who secretly invited three men to the wedding who might be her father: Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Bill (Skarsgård) and Harry (Colin Firth). Advertisement 5 Christine Baranski has revealed that her 'Mamma Mia!' co-star Stellan Skarsgård wasn't particularly fond of his time working on the 2008 film. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Meryl Streep played Sophie's mother, Donna, while Baranski played Tanya, a wealthy divorcée and Donna's longtime friend. Recalling the experience, Baranski revealed that Skarsgård struggled getting into the dancing spirit — specifically at the end of the film when the cast dances to Abba's 1976 hit track, 'Dancing Queen.' Advertisement 'I don't think he'll mind my saying he hated having to do the dance stuff,' Baranski, 73, said on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' The 'Andor' star revealed that Brosnan, for his part, 'was game.' 5 Skarsgård would 'let out a string of expletives' in response to being asked to dance, according to Baranski. Getty Images for Disney '[He would] skip down the hill multiple times,' she said of the James Bond alum, adding that Firth 'meant all of his moves ironically.' Advertisement 'When we finally went down the hill in 'Dancing Queen' and landed on the dock, the camera would move around and it usually would avoid Stellan,' Baranski added. Still, the film went on to become a box office success that later birthed the second 'Mamma Mia!' movie, 2018's 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.' 5 Based on the music of ABBA, the 2008 film was set on the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi. Universal Studios 5 The sequel grossed over $400 million at the global box office on a $75 million budget. Universal pictures Advertisement The sequel — which grossed over $400 million at the global box office on a $75 million budget — was directed by Ol Parker, who made it clear to the cast that dancing was non-negotiable. 'You have got to do the moves now — you have simply got to do the moves,' he said to the actors ahead of their close-up shots. As a result, Skarsgård would 'let out a string of expletives' in response, Baranski said. 'It's as if l had asked him to read Arabic poetry while jumping rope. He was like 'I can't do that,'' she added. In August 2024, Baranski revealed that a third film was in the works. 5 The initial films also stars Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried and Julie Walters, among others. WireImage Advertisement 'I was in London with [producer] Judy Kramer at our favorite watering hole, [and] she is planning 'Mamma Mia 3.' She gave me the narrative plot line of how it's going to happen,' she told the Hollywood Reporter. 'The Gilded Age' star explained that Kramer was the type of producer who 'makes things happen' instead of saying that she '[wishes] it could happen.'
USA Today
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Christine Baranski reveals this 'Mamma Mia!' star 'hated' dance numbers
Christine Baranski reveals this 'Mamma Mia!' star 'hated' dance numbers Not even the top-tapping tunes of ABBA can unleash the "Dancing Queen" in everyone. Christine Baranski, who starred in the ABBA-led movie musical "Mamma Mia!" and its 2018 sequel, revealed one of her costars despised the film's elaborate dance numbers during a May 7 interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Baranski, 73, played Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the 2008 romantic comedy about a young woman (Amanda Seyfried) who schemes to meet her biological father at her wedding by inviting three men from her mother's past to the ceremony. The trio of unwitting men — Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright and Bill Anderson — were portrayed by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård, respectively. The film, which grossed $610 million worldwide, spawned the sequel "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again." And while all three actors were reluctant to show off their dance moves, Skarsgård had the least boogie spirit the second time around, according to Baranski. "Stellan hated it," Baranski told host Stephen Colbert. "Pierce was game. He would skip down the hill multiple times ... and I think Colin Firth meant all of his moves ironically." When "we finally went down the hill in 'Dancing Queen' and landed on the dock, and then it was the end of the number, and the camera would move around, and it usually would avoid Stellan," she added with a laugh. Review: 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' outsings the ABBA-fueled original Baranski said not even the film's director, Ol Parker, could persuade the "Dune" star, 73, to loosen up. "He let out a string of expletives," she recalled. "It's as though Ol had asked him to do Arabic poetry while jumping rope. He was like, 'I can't do that.'" Skarsgård reflected on his unlikely involvement in "Mamma Mia!" in a February 2024 interview with Vanity Fair. While the actor initially thought it "absurd" to sign onto the musical given his lack of theatrical chops, Brosnan and Firth's participation warmed him up to the idea. Stellan Skarsgård interview: How 'Dune' star transformed into villain Baron Harkonnen "In a film that is produced by men and directed by men (and) with men in the lead, you have the bimbo. And we were the bimbos in this female(-led) production," Skarsgård said. "We didn't have to be anything but look cute and be silly. "There's only one thing that was asked of us and that was have fun. Because if we don't have fun, it won't be a film."
Sydney Morning Herald
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘When I look in the mirror, I get the biggest kick': Christine Baranski
This story is part of the May 4 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories. On June 20, 1972, a production of Hamlet opened at New York's Delacorte Theatre. It starred Stacy Keach as Hamlet and James Earl Jones as Claudius. Somewhere up the back was Christine Baranski, barely 20 years old, in the role of a lady-in-waiting. 'I thought that was my destiny, absolutely my destiny to be there,' Baranski says. 'I was going to study as hard as I could, and I was going to be a part of that world. I was not aspirational in terms of TV or film – it was all about being a great theatre actor and holding my own on stage with these greats.' Living on the east coast of the United States, she rejected the allure of Hollywood. 'I didn't have any desire to be a sitcom actress. It was like, you give up your theatre career and then that's it, you go commercial. It's an entirely different way of thinking now, of course. But I held out.' Like any great actor, however, she wasn't so much holding out as letting the audience's appetite manifest. Christine Baranski is a statuesque 177 centimetres, but enters a room with the presence of a woman even taller. At 72, she remains formidable. She sparkled in the film Mamma Mia! as Tanya Chesham-Leigh. And as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife, and later The Good Fight, she captured the zeitgeist, exuding intellectual brilliance and a rare kind of elegance. But the lady herself seems a universe away from – to borrow a line from the film Chicago, which she also appeared in – all that razzle-dazzle. Baranski and I first met on the set of The Good Wife and crossed paths a second time while she was promoting The Good Fight. Now, on opposite coasts of the US, we are catching up on Zoom to discuss her latest role, as Victoria in the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. 'What jazzes me when I get a phone call [about a project] is, of course, who's in it,' Baranski says. In this case, the attraction is creator and director David E. Kelley, working off the book by Australian author Liane Moriarty, with Nicole Kidman in the lead role of Masha Dmitrichenko. 'There were all kinds of wonderful morsels of excitement, including Nicole reprising her role,' says Baranski. 'And then my agents told me some of the actors involved, which was terribly exciting and remains exciting.' The project was filmed in Europe, on sound stages in Munich and on location in the Austrian Alps. 'I am a music lover and an opera lover, so you can imagine, I just inhaled history,' Baranski says. 'When I wasn't acting, I was very much a traveller. I had a lot of reasons to be excited about this project.' After we scrub away the spoilers, what we can say about her character, Victoria, is this: she comes into Masha's orbit hoping to reconnect with her daughter. 'I have raised daughters and I know the topography of a mother-daughter relationship: how complicated it can be, how challenging, how much love there is despite the difficulties,' Baranski says. 'Victoria is a woman with a past, many marriages, many divorces, lots of travel, she had money, she didn't have money, she loves her gorgeous clothes,' Baranski adds, check-listing Victoria's favourite brands: Wagner, Armani and Italian fashion house Etro. 'She's very worldly. She's wonderfully witty. There was a lot to work with as an actress.' Baranski's own worldliness and wit can be tracked back to childhood. She lost her father, newspaper editor Lucien Baranski, at the age of eight, and was raised by her mother and grandmother. The family lived in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. The Big Apple beckoned, but it took a lot of grit to get into New York City's prestigious Juilliard School of performing arts. She was knocked back the first time, but got her foot in the door at her second try. Following graduation, there were small roles in TV staples like Law & Order, and the films Reversal of Fortune (1990) and The Birdcage (1996). Then, in the mid-1990s, came the sitcom Cybill, which starred Cybill Shepherd (Baranski played Maryann, the Patsy to Shepherd's Edina). And after that Chicago (2002), Mamma Mia! (2008) and Into the Woods (2014). On TV, she brought her droll wit to The Big Bang Theory as Johnny Galecki's on-screen mother, and between 2009 and 2022 she portrayed strong-willed litigator Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife and The Good Fight. She currently plays Agnes Van Rhijn in the period drama The Gilded Age. But for Baranski, her most transformational role has been away from the camera, raising two daughters: Isabel, now a lawyer, and Lily, who followed her mother into acting. 'In the deepest possible way, [motherhood] transforms you,' she says. Motherhood also gave her an immediate bond with Nicole Kidman. 'We went right to talking about our children,' Baranski says. 'Her mother [Janelle, who passed away last September] was ailing at the time, and I shared with her the story of my mother's illness and how difficult it was as a daughter to lose my mother.' The pair also discussed the difficulties of working in remote locations, away from family. 'The bond is immediate, so immediate, because of this common feeling that you are always torn,' says Baranski. 'You're enraptured by your children, but you're also enslaved, because you always feel you should be there for them and you feel guilty if you're not there when they're growing up. 'It's something I've talked about to so many actresses who have children. The bond is so profound and the mother-daughter relationship is so complex because women are complicated beings.' Baranski should know – she has played many complicated women. 'They're all aspects of me,' she says. 'And I am delighted when people come up to me, especially young women or young girls, and they get excited about Tanya [in Mamma Mia! ] and that woman dancing on the beach with the guys. I'm like, 'Yeah, I was that woman. I was dancing with all those guys on the beach.' ' Diane Lockhart, she says, is the woman she aspired to be, 'a woman who was perfectly comfortable in a man's world and who had an ethical centre. She was smarter than I, she was tougher than I, she was more confident than I was … so I had the pleasure of inhabiting a character that, in a perfect world, I would be.' She says her work also seeks to hold up a mirror to our own experiences and feelings. Mamma Mia! perhaps lives at the lighter end of the spectrum. But The Gilded Age, for example, is a glittering soap opera set in a world of extraordinary wealth which serves as a dark mirror of the USA's social and cultural origins. Loading Nine Perfect Strangers is an ambitious work, too. 'I am loath to say it's about any one thing; people will take away what they want,' Baranski says. 'But I think, in the wake of The White Lotus and what that dealt with rather brilliantly – people having existential crises over the way in which they are living – a piece like Nine Perfect Strangers tells the stories of these lives, these wounded human beings. 'People are captivated by stories about people who have suffered trauma or are working through trauma and trying to come through into some place of healing,' she adds. 'That's very simplistic, but that's Masha's intention. People are looking for restoration, looking to be healed and to be taken psychologically to a new place where they're able to rid themselves of the darkness.' And Baranski herself? 'I find such humour and delight in the fact that I am a girl from Buffalo, New York. I grew up skinny. I had bad skin. I was brought up by Catholic nuns. And my mom worried about money all the time. 'Yet somehow, when I look in the mirror or see images of myself as this sophisticated character or this grand dame or these sexy, foxy ladies, who are witty and well-dressed and all, I get the biggest kick. Because underneath all of that is this Buffalo girl who still cheers for the Buffalo Bills football team. It's a pretty great journey.'
