Nine Perfect Strangers promises to make you question the wellness industry, but it’s also going to give you something truly wonderful: It’s going to make viewers fall in love. Hulu’s newest original features one of the sweetest, most magnetic romances of 2021, and it’s all thanks to Melissa McCarthy and Bobby Cannavale. At the Television Critics Association’s 2021 summer tour, the pair spilled on what it takes to bring a swoon-worthy romance to life.
From the first episode of the show and the first few chapters of the book, Frances (McCarthy) and Tony (Cannavale) feel as intertwined as any of Frances’ own fictional couples. When they first meet each other, Frances has pulled over on the side of the road on her way to Tranquillum House. True to her ever-dramatic nature, she screams into the horizon, cursing the world for her floundering career as a romance author and the man who broke her heart. That’s where the bullish yet sweet Tony finds her. Tony tries his best to help this strange woman get back to her car, but almost everything he says is wrong. He implies that she’s crazy and having a mental breakdown before angrily huffing that she’s a sad person.
That right there is everything that makes Frances and Tony’s budding romance so lovely. Though their lives seem so different and neither of them can get anything right, they’re cut from the same cloth. They’re both stubborn, to-the-point, perfectionists who are tired of dancing around the BS of life and are finally ready to deal with their own complicated emotions. After a lifetime of faking it, they both finally want something real. Watching them stumble over each other as they figure out whether what’s happening is love or hate is half the fun of this story.
“We strongly dislike each other,” Melissa McCarthy joked when asked what goes into making a believable on-screen romance.
“Melissa likes to — on the side — talk to me about how much she wants to hit me in the face. She also likes to call me a jerk,” Bobby Cannavale said. “I was remembering that today. They were like, ‘What cracks Melissa up?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know why specifically, but I know when I do crack her up, she just goes, “You’re a jerk.”‘ And I keep coming back for more, so maybe that’s it.”
Nine Perfect Strangers marks the fourth project the two have starred together in after Thunder Force, Spy, and Superintelligence. “We either beat each other up or kind of fall in love. Like, we’re on a pattern of literally, physically punching each other or being in love,” McCarthy said.
When it comes to tackling the less violent side of their on-camera dynamic, McCarthy looks to the natural connection she has with her co-star. “For me, I know it’s Bobby. Bobby is so funny and he’s such a skilled — don’t listen to this, Bobby, you’ll be impossible. He’s such an amazing actor. He’s so present and you never quite know which way he’s going to go with it,” McCarthy said. “They’re paying me extra to say this, so just let me get through it. But it’s really great. And when you have that kind of comfort level with somebody, I think you’re not afraid to be embarrassed or feel dumb. It’s like you just go with it.”
“I feel the same way. It’s really serendipitous,” Cannavale said. “You can’t really put your finger on what it is. I do know that Melissa is really well-prepared. I try to do so much work before I come to work. We don’t do a lot of talking about it. We’re just there together. And we usually get through a couple of takes pretty easily, and then we have fun and usually have the time to be able to have a couple of takes for ourselves. Most of the time it just feels effortless, and I think that’s a testament to the kind of preparation that Melissa has, and her work ethic, and the depth of her well, really. There’s just so much going on in there, and it’s a thrill to be able to get to work with somebody like that.”
The first three episodes of Nine Perfect Strangers are now on Hulu. New episodes will premiere Wednesdays.
Watch Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu
Watch Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu