EXCLUSIVE: Nicole Kidman is back at HBO with another high-profile limited series based on a novel, The Perfect Nanny. Kidman and Pen15 co-creator and co-lead Maya Erskine are set to star in the project, which HBO landed in a very competitive situation. Erskine is the creator and writer of the limited series, based on the book of the same name by Leïla Slimani. Legendary Entertainment is the co-studio with HBO.
In The Perfect Nanny, a seemingly perfect nanny goes to work for a couple with two young children, but her helpful personality eventually deteriorates into something sinister.
Kidman and Per Saari executive produce for Kidman’s Blossom Films; Erskine also executive produces alongside Pascal Caucheteux for Why Not Productions, and Philippe Godeau for Pan-Européenne.
Kidman previously starred and executive produced HBO’s Big Little Lies, which originated as a limited series and earned her an acting and producing Emmy award, and The Undoing.
The actor, who also is an Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award winner, will next be seen in Lulu Wang’s drama series Expats for Amazon Prime, which Kidman stars in and executive produces. She also stars in the Netflix romantic comedy A Family Affair opposite Zac Efron and Joey King, set for a Nov 2023 release. She is currently in production on Lioness, a Paramount+ original series she executive produces and appears in opposite Zoe Saldana. Kidman will also star in and executive produce Amazon Studios thriller Holland, Michigan, set to start production in 2023.
Erskine is a co-creator, co-lead and executive producer of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated comedy series, Pen15, which ran for two seasons. She is currently filming the Prime Video’s high-profile Mr. and Mrs. Smith series reboot, playing the co-lead opposite Donald Glover.
The Perfect Nanny, which was inspired by the gruesome 2012 Krim children murder, was originally published by Gallimard in France in 2016, with translation rights sold in a bidding war in 40 territories, making it an international bestseller. The novel, which has been praised for its exploration of race and class divisions against the background of every parent’s worst fear, the death of their children, was awarded France’s highest literary prize, the Prix Goncourt. Its 2018 American edition made The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year list. In the UK, The Perfect Nanny, titled Lullaby, won Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards 2019.
Kidman is repped by CAA, Media Talent Group and Jackoway Tyerman. Erskine is repped by Gersh, Mosaic, and lawyer Melissa Fox. Slimani is repped by Frédérique Massart of Gallimard.
