Kidman leads mini-drama based on Janice YK Lee’s best-selling 1998 novel ‘The Expatriatess’

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Nicole Kidman suffers a life-altering tragedy in the first trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s forthcoming mini-drama Expats, based on Janice YK Lee’s best-selling 1998 novel The Expatriates.

Scheduled to premiere its first two episodes on 26 January 2024, the six-episode drama from acclaimed filmmaker Lulu Wang (The Farewell) stars Kidman as Margaret, an expat living in Hong Kong.

“Sometimes I want to be alone where I’m not somebody’s wife, not somebody’s mother, where I’m not defined by tragedy,” Margaret says in the teaser.

She’s then seen walking through a bustling night market with her children. “You’re just watching them every second, even when your eyes are closed,” Margaret says as it’s implied that she loses one of them. “And I have no idea how it happened.”

The series follows Margaret and two other American women – Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), a recent Columbia University graduate and Hilary (Sarayu Blue), a wealthy housewife – all of whom are brought together in a remarkable way.

apestry of Hong Kong residents, Expats depicts a multifaceted group of women after a single encounter sets off a chain of life-altering events that leaves everyone navigating the intricate balance between blame and accountability,” an official logline states.

It also stars Brian Tee and Jack Huston.

The show’s production, which initially began in 2021, sparked controversy among Hong Kong residents after the government permitted Kidman to skip a mandatory Covid quarantine to begin filming. Production was later paused, before resuming and wrapping in December 2022.

“It’s hard to believe we’ve finally wrapped Expats after starting production in August 2021 (lovingly referred to as 500 Days of Expats),” Wang wrote on Instagram at the time. “We’ve had every challenge hurled at us, from lockdowns and injuries to Covid shutdowns… but we made it. There are so many people to thank, so many stories to tell and I will slowly get to them all as we prepare to launch this 6.5hr series.”

Speaking to IndieWire in 2020, Wang said that the Big Little Lies star approached her with the idea after having seen the director’s 2019 drama, The Farewell.

 

“[Kidman] said, ‘There’s this book we optioned and we’re adapting, and you’re the first person to read the scripts. You’re the only director I can see doing this. You have to do it,’” Wang explained. “I was incredibly grateful.”

Both Kidman and Wang also serve as executive producers.

Expats will premiere its first two episodes on Amazon Prime Video on 26 January 2024, with new episodes following weekly.