The Perfect Couple cast staged “a mutiny” to protest most uncomfortable scene

The Perfect Couple is making the rounds as Netflix’s newest crime thriller – a genre that explains why most of its cast didn’t want to take part in the bizarre dance sequence in the first episode.

Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s book of the same name, The Perfect Couple arrived on Netflix this week, blessing subscribers with yet another Nicole Kidman thriller about wealth and power.

Kicking off with a mysterious murder and an entire party’s worth of suspects (à la The White Lotus), the new drama dips into the family’s dark secrets. However, the TV show kicks off with a slight tone shift, since the opening scene is a full-scale dance sequence with the entire cast.

Taking place on the beach, the cast – decked out in full evening wear, gowns and all – perform a choreographed routine to Meghan Trainor’s track, ‘Criminals.’ Understandably, most of the actors involved were not on board to begin with.

Meghann Fahy, who plays influencer Merritt, revealed to Variety that they even went so far as to create a WhatsApp group chat in an attempt to shut the sequence down.

“Everyone was on that group saying they didn’t want to do this because we just didn’t understand,” she explained. “I actually have a really, really huge issue with learning choreography so I was very nervous about it.”

Ishaan Khattar, who plays Scooter, also added: “I don’t think any of us could make sense of doing this choreography in these characters. We’re like, ‘Wait where does this fit into the scheme of things? This was not part of the assignment!'”

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Even Kidman, who stars as matriarch and famous author Greer, admitted she needed some convincing. “Because I didn’t feel like Greer would dance! I felt like Greer would watch,” she said. “But I danced as Greer. I think it’s great and I’m so glad they got us all to do it. ‘Cause there’s some joy in it.”

However, there was one cast member who was more than willing to give the dance sequence his all: Liev Schreiber.

“I wasn’t in that [WhatsApp] chain,” he said. “The entire cast had a mutiny about this idea except for me, I was already in my trailer practicing the dance moves. I just like dancing and I was kinda disappointed when it came out that I’m not in it more because I thought I did it really well.”

For more, check out our guide to pentobarbital. You can also check out all the other new TV shows on streaming this month, and learn more about Kidman’s next project, Lioness Season 2.