Nine Perfect Strangers has taken the internet by storm since its debut on August 18. This miniseries is based on a book with the same name by Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies. The unsettling series follows a series of nine strangers that are looking to find relief from their personal traumas.
They join the Gwyneth Paltrow-esque retreat leader, Marsha, for a 10-day retreat at her residence: the Tranquillum House.
As the episodes unfold, more details about the characters and their struggles are revealed. The series has an all-star cast, putting forth Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy and Michael Shannon in lead roles. Joining the cast as Zoe Marconi, a young woman who struggles to come to terms with her brother’s suicide, is the 24-year-old actor Grace Van Patten.
Nine Perfect Strangers isn’t Patten’s first Hollywood experience. Prior to this series, she had starred in episodes of The Sopranos and Netflix’s Maniac. She also has an action-drama movie coming out later in 2021 called Mayday.
Talking about her inspiration to play Zoe in this latest project, Patten shared, “It was definitely tough being in that headspace for those amount of months. Talking it out with Michael Shannon and Asher Keddie, who play my parents, was the most helpful.”
She added, “We would just have these really in conversations about the family dynamic and who we were as a family before this traumatic event happened and how it changed us and how it stunted us.”
Patten went on to say that she turned to books and television as another source of inspiration. She mentioned the memoir Standing on My Brother’s Shoulder By Tara J. Law. “It is so beautifully written, and she went through a similar experience [as Zoe], and her brother died by suicide. She really dives deep into the reconstruction of somebody after a traumatic event, and just reading that helped,” she expressed.
Ahead of the show’s highly-anticipated season finale, Monsters and Critics had the opportunity to chat with Patten about playing Zoe in Nine Perfect Strangers.
Patten on the season finale
While Patten was unable to share much about the season finale (as predicted), she did give us some insight into its tone. She teased, “You know, I haven’t even seen the last episode yet, so I’m in for a surprise too. Telling us what to expect, Patten said to expect “some more trippiness, that’s for sure.”
However, reeling things in, she identified the ending as “hopeful.”
Patten on her upcoming role
Journeying into what’s next for the young actor, Patten shared her thoughts on her upcoming movie Mayday, which she stars in alongside Juliette Lewis and Mia Goth. The movie made its debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and will be airing in the United States in October. Patten shared, “I’m really excited for the world to see it. It is wild and just as trippy as Nine Perfect Strangers, if you can imagine.”
“It’s about this young girl, Anna, who’s really in a rut in her life and doesn’t know how much longer she can go on living this way. She finds herself in a fantasy land with these strong females, almost warriors. And it’s just a beautiful story about a girl finding her inner strength and power and gaining the strength to go on.”
Most recently, Patten was also cast to star in Hulu’s latest announced book-to-series adaptation called Tell Me Lies, which will showcase Emma Roberts as an executive producer.
Watch our full interview below.
Nine Perfect Strangers is currently airing on Hulu. The season finale drops on September 22.