How the opening dance sequence of “Perfect Couple” almost didn’t happen

When it comes to unexpected decisions, few in recent television history come close to the opening credits, The perfect couple.

Netflix's six-part adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel, set on Nantucket, begins with a suspicious death on the eve of a wedding – raising doubts about all the haves and have-nots around the deceased. But before they can get to the bottom of the mystery of her murder, they must dance! The entire cast, including star Nicole Kidman and the victim, spend the 45-second opening of each episode performing a rough choreography to Meghan Trainor's “Criminals.”

If you haven't seen the film yet – and this is not a spoiler – imagine one of these numbers from a 1960s Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon surf movie, except everyone looks like they belong to a country club with extremely problematic membership requirements. (Or just watch the video embedded below.) The choice is very deliberate. Susanne Bier, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning director behind The Night Manager and The ruin Directed every episode. And she wanted viewers to know that the show would be more of a comedic take on the genre, not just a boring crime drama like so many other anthologies.

“I told Netflix and the producers that I wanted to do something fun with the show,” she says, joining via Zoom from her Los Angeles hotel room the day after the premiere party. “The script could have gone either way – toward the sadness of a dying person or toward something lighter, something that I think elevates it. That's not to say I don't have a lot of respect for things that have different ambitions, but this show was very deliberately made for the audience.”

It seems like people are watching, as it's currently at No. 1 on the streamer's US charts. And for them and everyone else, Bier explains how the opening credits came together, who was immediately on board, who conspired to stop her, and why she wouldn't take no for an answer.

This is possibly the only crime thriller with a choreographed dance number for the opening credits. Where did the idea come from?

There was a dream sequence in the script where a dance turned into a nightmare. I didn't want to do that. But there was something special about the dancing. When I took it out of the episode, it stuck with me. And I felt like the opening credits needed to be something that suggested the audience was allowed to have fun at this show. There's something joyful about a lot of people dancing together. And with all these characters who aren't necessarily likable, that moment just seemed right. Sue Jacobs, our music director, sent me some songs and I really liked “Criminals” by Meghan Trainor.

Isn't she from Nantucket?

Yes! So I decided on that song, and then the choreographer Charm La'Donna did that dance. We went back and forth a little bit. When we sent it to the cast, everyone except Liev Schreiber said, “No, I'm not doing that. No, no, no.” Then we came back to filming after the strikes and we had very little time to do anything. We had to compress six weeks into three weeks.

How did you get them to come along?

We made the test meal [from episode one]and everyone still said “no.” The producers, everyone, kept asking, “Are you sure you want to spend time doing something the cast doesn't even want to do?” Nicole said she couldn't dance in her dress. It was too tight. They even made a WhatsApp group not to do the dance. But when the time came, I just said, “Let's just try it.” And then they were all totally into it! We shot everything in an hour and a half. I don't know if you noticed at the end of episode six…

Oh, I noticed that.

I show up at the dance! I wanted the cast to take revenge. And then I got it. It was a difficult dance.

And Liev was the only one on board?

Yes. He's a great dancer. It was interesting because he didn't want to play catch. He really had to be convinced. We probably spoke on the phone 20 times before he agreed. Once he was in, he was totally into it. He was actually really excited to dance.

We're not going to give anything away in this conversation, but I wasn't expecting the revelation at the end. As a director who has made a few crime films of this kind, what do you do to throw people off the trail without being dishonest?

It's a really tricky edit. You want to hold the audience's hand and you can't lie. That's always so annoying when I watch something, when they don't stick to the truth. But you can avoid telling the audience things. And it's not just bits of information. It's about showing someone holding another character's hand. So many little gestures are just full of information. Sam Williams, the editor, and I had a lot of fun refining every single moment – moving things around, changing things structurally, putting scenes in other episodes and all that kind of stuff. I think that's why it's good to watch it a second time.

There are a lot of flashbacks and jumps to interrogations throughout the series, especially in the first episode. What are the pros and cons of this style of storytelling?

Well, the trap is the frustration of being taken out of the action and transported to another world – to other characters or another time. I've seen shows that cut back and forth and I've been very frustrated. The advantage is that you can add something to the present with very little means. A time cut can add to the present timeline in a more lighthearted way and that was the idea of ​​this show. But it's a very delicate balance.

Which crime cliché do you hate?

Police cliches! Police officers explain the possible plot in a very elegant way. When police dialogue focuses too much on explanation, as often happens in crime dramas, it's a trap. They're supposed to be people talking, but that gets lost when they're just telling the audience something. This is one of the more dangerous cliches.

I spent a lot of time on Cape Cod, where you did most of the filming, and I can't imagine the locals were thrilled. What was it like filming there?

Well, they had mixed feelings about it. (Laughs.) I don't think the trucks and the noise of 400 people mixed. Even if we followed the strict rules to make sure we were considerate of the neighborhood, these neighborhoods aren't designed to have people arriving on set at 5 a.m. with cranes and trucks and lights. It wasn't a natural hand-holding, “come back please” situation. Some of them were curious and interested and friendly, but there were also a number of people who definitely didn't like us being there.

You recently said that you can only be really good at something if you don't know exactly how to do it. How did you translate that here?

So it was a big challenge to find the right tone. The balance between the crime and the characters wasn't too obvious. Getting the tone right is a very delicate matter that could have gone wrong so easily. There are many things I didn't do. There are many things that scare me. I love doing more comedy. That requires flawless precision.

Before I let you go, and I realize that you will not watch the episode The Night Managerbut you're still executive producer. What's happening there? It's a departure from John le Carré material, right?

Yes, he only wrote this one book. So it's based on that material. I read an early version of the script and they were great. I think it's going to be really good. The director is great. The cast is interesting.