The Dead Ringers cast on what attracted them to the Prime Video series

We have a brand new series dropping on Prime Video called Dead Ringers. The limited series will debut Apr. 21 on the streaming platform. I had the pleasure of chatting with some of the stars of the show, Jennifer Ehle, Poppy Liu, Emily Meade, and Britne Oldford.

Dead Ringers is a modern take on the 1988 David Cronenberg film of the same name turned into a limited series that stars Rachel Weisz in the lead role of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twins that share everything, including drugs, lovers and everything in their power to push women’s healthcare to the forefront.

You don’t have to be familiar with Cronenberg’s film to watch Weisz’s take on the movie. Instead, you might be better off just heading into this one blind because it stands so far out on its own. It makes for an incredible experience. I was completely engulfed by the first few moments of the series, and all of it was because of the brilliant performance from Weisz. She is one incredible actress, but given this dual performance as twins, she’s never been better.

I sat down with Dead Ringers cast members Jennifer Ehle, Poppy Liu, Emily Meade, and Britne Oldford to discuss the upcoming Prime Video Series.

Check out the video version of the interview here.

The Dead Ringers cast talk what attracted them to the series and how it differs from the original film

Hidden Remote: What attracted you to the role of Rebecca?

Jennifer Ehle: I think I would have done any role that had either Alice Birch or Rachel Weisz attached to it in any way, but Rebecca, I was just completely full of glee at the thought of playing somebody who is, who has so little regard for what anybody else thinks. And she’s funny, and she’s smart, and she’s ruthless, and that was really fun.

HR: There’s one scene in an episode where Genevieve and Rachel are sitting there talking to the Mantle family, and the mother speaks up and says if I had to become someone else, I would lose my sense of self. What do you do to ensure the characters you play don’t consume Britney, the person?

Britne Oldford: That’s a very good question. I realized early on in my career, I think it was the first two or three years that I couldn’t take jobs home with me in a big way. I had to learn through trial and error how to. It’s kind of like a light switch even on set, turn it on, turn it off because I want to be myself. I want to be comfortable, I want to feel like I’m engaged with everyone, but at the same time, I want to be able to do my work, and the hours are very, very long, and it can be very exhausting. So it’s a self-preservation thing that you learn with time. And I’m really thankful, and I think everyone in my life is really thankful that I managed to figure that out.

HR: What attracted you to the role of Greta?

Poppy Liu: She is just a weird, strange little person, and you really can’t quite figure her out for a while. And she just kind of exists in her own world. The world of Dead Ringers is already so strange and dysfunctional and, you know, specific, and then within this dysfunctional world, you have this person who kind of is done in her own world. So she’s just so like on the fringes of sanity, I feel like. But yeah, I think she’s very interesting. I think like there is most of the iceberg is underwater with Greta, and you just get the very tippy top of it. So I think there was a lot to unearth with her.

HR: What did you see kind of differed in watching the Cronenberg version of Dead Ringers vs. the one you were in? 

Emily Meade: Yeah. I mean, it’s very different. Our characters aren’t our storylines. The whole birthing center, to begin with, isn’t in it. But I was surprised and found it cool that there are a lot of little kind of Easter eggs and like there are little ways of subtly honoring, whether it’s visual or dialogue based, the last one. But tonally, they’re both bizarre. But there’s a lot more humor, I think in the series. And yeah, it’s like we took that world and then added element and expanded upon it and I guess brought it into the modern.

Dead Ringers is coming to Prime Video on Apr. 21, 2023.