Prime Video’s new thriller, The Girlfriend, kicks off when a protective mom starts to suspect her son’s new girlfriend isn’t exactly who she says she is. The series stars Robin Wright as Laura, a wealthy woman who becomes convinced that Cherry (Olivia Cooke), her son Daniel’s (Laurie Davidson) charming girlfriend, is manipulative and dangerous, but whether she’s right or not is part of the tension that keeps you watching.
I caught up with casting directors Lucy Bevan and Olivia Grant, who I previously talked with about Masters of the Air, to talk about the very different challenges of finding the right actors for The Girlfriend. We discussed how Robin Wright’s dual role as star and director shaped the audition process, how Laurie Davidson and Olivia Cooke brought such layered performances to their characters, and why an intimate story like this one requires its own unique kind of casting chemistry. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full conversation in the video above or on our YouTube channel.
I’m going to be honest, my wife was the one who wanted to watch this, and I reluctantly agreed. But after about 20 minutes, I was hooked. And the cast is perfect, as usual, with you guys. Compared to the last show we talked about, Masters of the Air, which was so big and sprawling, this is totally the opposite. It’s much more intimate.
Lucy Bevan: It’s so true, it’s a really good word to use for it, isn’t it?
It was a really different challenge because the whole show really sort of depended on the chemistry between the leads, between Laura, Cherry, Daniel, and Howard. It was a more intimate casting process, certainly.
Does a small cast free up your time to find actors in a slower way? As opposed to things being rushed on a bigger production.
Olivia Grant: Well, I think we did the initial casting process before full casting started, which was just Cherry, Daniel, and Howard. That was really nice to have proper time to put that family unit together before we dived into everybody else.
Lucy Bevan: And also, one of the differences with Masters is that we were able to do that in the room, and Robin was really keen to meet and read with actors, so that was a real delight for us, to work really closely with Robin reading, particularly for both Cherry and Daniel’s parts. We read a lot of actors
As an actress herself, it’s wonderful working with directors who are so great with actors and give such good notes, and so you could really sort of feel the chemistry in the room, which was so essential, particularly for the part of Daniel. And we did all that in-person auditions, which we love doing.
When Laurie came in and auditioned for the part of Daniel, he read beautifully with Robin, took all her notes. We auditioned with the swimming scene in the first episode, and they go in the sauna afterwards, and they chat. We used that as our auditioning scene, and Robin and Laurie read that together so beautifully. She gave Laurie some notes, and he adjusted perfectly.
And then when he left, it was like, “Yeah, he definitely feels like the one.”
Talking about Laurie, he is so good in this, and so charming. It’s very frustrating to me, because I know I will never be anywhere near that type of charm. Had you ever auditioned him before?
Olivia Grant: Yeah, we’ve auditioned him many, many times. We’ve cast him twice before. He’s always been so good when he’s come in the room, whether he’s got the part or not. It’s just a case of whether he’s been right for it or not.
Lucy Bevan: And he’s so clever, as well as being charming, that’s what I really love about him. You really believe him as a doctor, I think. You really believe that he loves his mother, he really believes that he loves this woman, and you also believe that he is incredibly smart. Yeah, it felt like a very good fit.
Olivia Grant: Yeah, he’s also just got a really good sense of humor, and I think amidst all kind of really dramatic moments, he has a great gift of being able just to make light of something. I think it also makes it more believable as to why Daniel doesn’t necessarily see how the women in his life are operating on either side, because he’s not taking life hugely seriously.
I’ve seen Olivia Cooke in a handful of things now, and she’s almost like a chameleon. I don’t think I’ve seen her play the same character twice. Was she already attached to the role when you came on board?
Lucy Bevan: No. Robin was attached when we came on board, and we cast the rest with Robin and producer Jonathan Cavendish, the producers of Imaginarium. We suggested Olivia as an idea. Robin and Olivia met and immediately hit it off. Robin could see what a powerhouse Olivia is, and it felt like a very great fit. But yeah, she is a chameleon, totally. She’s brilliant.
How is it working side-by-side with Robin? She was an executive producer, she directed 3 episodes. How was the collaboration between you guys?
Lucy Bevan: She’s great fun. And really kind to all the actors. I hope that every actor that came in the room and auditioned with us, whether they got the part or not, had a really great experience with Robin. She’s so generous to actors, she gives them wonderful notes. She was a delight to work with, very open, very collaborative, I mustn’t overuse that word, but she really was.
She was really open to ideas. Like, we were really keen for there to be diversity in the cast as much as possible, and we introduced ideas to her that she was incredibly open to. She was a joy to work with.
This was based on a book. Did you guys ever go that original source to research the characters?
Olivia Grant: Yeah, we did. I think we properly did that before we started the process. I think it was also clear that we had, sort of, free rein to be as creative with it as we could. And I think Robin was open to changing some things, which was nice. I don’t think we felt hemmed in necessarily by what had been exactly established in the book.
Who was the hardest role to cast this time around?
Lucy Bevan: Olivia’s mum was quite a challenge, because she is a really significant part. We don’t see her in as many scenes, but Karen Henshorn, who plays that part, was brilliant. When she goes toe-to-toe with Robin, I think you really feel the powerhouse of her as a mother from a very different background.
Olivia Grant: And then I guess the other part Lucy and I talked a lot about was Howard, the husband. Waleed Zueta is such a skilled actor, and I think does a lot with what’s on the page. I think he’s incredibly moving in the show, and that felt like a difficult part to get right, because you’ve got to deliver somebody that is as fantastic as Robin.
You said you did a read-through. I’ve done a couple of read-throughs when I’ve been cast in shows. I don’t know why, but it’s the most nervous I ever get throughout the whole casting process. Everybody’s there watching you and you don’t want to screw anything up, you want to justify why you’re there, you know?
Lucy Bevan: They are really nerve-wracking, and as with so much of our job, it’s always about trying to make the actors feel as comfortable and as welcome as possible.
And actually, one fun thing from that read-through, Marina Bye, who plays Cherry’s work colleague, was so funny that we went on to cast her in Bridget Jones as Hugh Grant’s nurse.
She was so funny in that read-through, she was so great that after that read-through, we thought, “Oh, she’s got the confidence to do that part in another show.”
But, yeah, read-throughs are nerve-wracking. The thing is just to do your best and realize that everyone is just pleased and you’re happy that you’re there.
