Kerry Washington leans into flawed, complicated womanhood in ‘Imperfect Women’
TheGrio...
Apple TV+ drama dives headfirst into a messy complicated female friendship dynamic starring Washington alongside Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara.
When Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss team up, it’s only natural that audiences’ expectations run high, but in their new Apple TV+ series, the actresses go beyond simply sharing the screen. The pair both serve as executive producers on the show, which will likely draw comparisons to HBO Max’s ‘Big Little Lies,’ thanks to similarly stacked ensemble casts and shared themes, including female friendships, murder, betrayal, and relationship strife.
The new Apple TV+ limited series, premiering March 18, dives into the unraveling of a decades-long friendship after a crime sends shockwaves through the lives of three women. What unfolds is less about whodunit and more about the why, as well as the way love, loyalty, and long-buried secrets can collide in ways that are so messy, viewers won’t be able to resist watching until the end.
For Moss, the journey to ‘Imperfect Women’ started with a simple airport purchase.
“I bought the book in 2019… just fell in love with it,” Moss tells theGrio of her initial discovery of the Araminta Hall novel that inspired the series.
What drew her in wasn’t just the story’s twists, but the opportunity to step into something different creatively—and to build the cast she’d been eagerly anticipating for quite some time.
“Very early on, I decided to play Mary just because I was attracted to something that I felt was really different than what I was doing at the time,” Moss continued. “I was interested in maybe doing a show where I wasn’t leading the thing the whole time, and so I gave myself the problem then of having to find somebody who could lead the show and be the person who takes us down the rabbit hole.”
That vision led her straight to Washington.
“‘I had wanted to work with [Kerry] for years and years and years,” Moss says. “It wasn’t a matter of, is she right — it was, ‘oh my God, is she available? Do you think she would say yes?’ So we sent it to her.”
For Washington, the feeling was mutual.
“I got this outreach from Lizzy Moss, which was a dream come true,” she says. “I thought ‘I just hope the material is as good as I want it to be…because if she and I are gonna do something together, it has to be top notch.”
It was.
After reading the novel and reviewing the creative vision, Washington was all in—not just as an actor, but as an executive producer. And that dual role shaped the entire experience.
“We have very different processes as actors, but we are very similar producers,” she explains. “All hands on deck, really in the trenches… wanting to elevate the piece, wanting to make the most of every moment, every choice.”
If there’s one thing both Washington and Moss agree on, it’s that the series thrives in its emotional chaos. The pair star as two-thirds of a trio of best friends (Kate Mara plays Nancy, the third friend) whose love and betrayal of one another propel the storyline.
“So many moments,” Washington says when asked if there was a point in the script where the messiness really jumped off the page.
Moss points to a pivotal confrontation scene where tension that’s been simmering finally boils over.
“To be able to dive into something really meaty… we could actually let go a little bit,” she says.
And while audiences will be locked into the drama, the actresses admit they were just as entertained watching each other work.
“As an actor, you’re all in it,” Washington says with a laugh, “but as a producer, you’re like —this is so good.”
At its core, ‘Imperfect Women’ is about the shifting nature of friendship and the uncomfortable truth that even those closest to us can be strangers in certain moments. That’s where the show’s real power lies — it refuses to offer easy answers. In fact, Washington and Moss are already anticipating the debates.
“One thing they’ll argue about is what does the very end mean,” Washington teases.
The series also does an exceptional job of prodding viewers’ moral compasses.
“Is it okay or isn’t it okay what she did?” she adds, noting that even the cast can’t agree.
Moss takes it a step further:
“Which is the biggest betrayal? What is the biggest secret? The biggest lie?”
In other words, prepare for your group chats to be activated.
The series also stars Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., Audrey Zahn, Jill Wagner, Rome Flynn, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Violette Linnz, Indiana Elle, Jackson Kelly, Keith Carradine, Ana Ortiz, Wilson Bethel, and Sherri Saum.
‘Imperfect Women’ premieres March 18 with two episodes on Apple TV+.