Shonda Rhimes has woven her magic over the inner workings of the White House to produce a whodunnit with a difference.
The producer and screenwriter behind the highly successful Netflix period drama Bridgerton and long-running medical series Grey’s Anatomy has turned her attention to life upstairs, downstairs and backstairs at the world’s most famous house to create The Residence.
This screwball murder mystery is inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s 2015 non-fiction book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which delves into the nitty-gritty of America’s first families, from the Kennedys and Reagans to the Clintons and Obamas, from the point of view of their staffers.
But this series comes with a sprinkling of stardust, with a cast which features a cameo appearance from Kylie Minogue.
Paul William Davies, the series showrunner and executive producer, said: “The Residence is honestly a lot of things.
“It’s funny, it’s suspenseful, it’s clever, it’s totally farcical in places, it’s genuinely romantic in others.”
It reveals the inner workings of a fictionalised White House with a classic Shonda twist – a murder.
Cue the arrival of the brilliant but eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp, played by Uzo Aduba.
‘The Residence’ is set in the White House (Photo: Jessica Brooks/Netflix)What is The Residence about?
The Residence is a murder mystery revolving around the most disastrous and deadly state dinner in history at the White House in Washington, DC.
There are 132 rooms, 157 suspects and one dead body.
The victim is AB Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), the White House chief usher, and everyone is a suspect.
Wildly eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp is called in to help solve the crime and must hunt for clues to solve her most high-stakes case yet.
She is partnered with sceptical FBI special agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), the Watson to her Sherlock Holmes.
And as Aduba points out: “This case is unsolvable to everyone except Cordelia Cupp.”
Who is in the cast of The Residence?
Uzo Aduba stars as Cordelia Cupp, a brilliant but eccentric detective (Photo: Jessica Brooks/Netflix)
Uzo Aduba stars as Cordelia Cupp, a brilliant but eccentric detective brought in to solve a murder at the White House.
A consulting detective for the Metropolitan Police, she is wry, funny, relentless, intensely focused, supremely confident, an astute observer of human behavior and a legendary birder.
Aduba said: “What makes Cordelia part of the catalog of Shondaland heroines is that she’s strong, she doesn’t mince words, she’s unapologetically herself.”
The Emmy award-winning actress, 44, has starred in Orange is the New Black, Mrs America, In Treatment and Painkiller.
She has appeared in films such as American Pastoral and Miss Virginia.
And on stage, she has had leading in roles in Broadway and West End shows such as Clyde’s, The Maids, Godspell and Coram Boy.
Randall Park
Randall Park, right, plays Edwin Park (Photo: Erin Simkin/Netflix)Randall Park plays Edwin Park, the FBI special agent assigned to work alongside Cupp on the night of the state dinner.
American actor Park, 50, is best-known for his role as Louis Huang in the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
He played governor Danny Chung in the comedy series Veep and Timmy Yoon in Blockbuster.
On film, he has played Kim Jong-un in The Interview and Jimmy Woo in the Ant-Man and the Wasp movies.
Giancarlo Esposito plays AB Wynter (Photo: Jessica Brooks/Netflix)
Giancarlo Esposito is AB Wynter, the White House’s chief usher in The Residence.
The American actor, 66, is best-known for portraying Gus Fring in the crime drama series Breaking Bad and the prequel Better Call Saul.
On television, he has also starred in Once Upon a Time, Revolution, Dear White People, Godfather of Harlem, The Mandalorian and The Gentlemen.
And on film, he has appeared in Rabbit Hole, Son of Batman, Megalopolis, Captain America: Brave New World and The Electric State.
Al Franken
Al Franken, right, plays senator Aaron Filkins (Photo: Jessica Brooks/Netflix)Al Franken plays senator Aaron Filkins, which shouldn’t be too much of a stretch as he is a former US senator.
The 73-year-old actor, comedian and politician was one of the original writers and performers for Saturday Night Live!, for which he won five Emmy awards.
He hosted The Al Franken Show on radio in the early 2000s and The Al Franken Podcast in the 2020s.
And he served as US senator for Minnesota from 2009 to 2018.
The show has an all-star cast (Photo: Erin Simkin/Netflix)The Residence cast also includes:
Barrett Foa as Elliott Morgan (NCIS: Los Angeles, Will &Grace) Edwina Findley as Sheila Cannon (The Power, If Loving You Is Wrong) Juliette Jeffers as Angie Huggins (Tulsa King, Law & Order) Al Mitchell as Rollie Bridgewater (Swagger, Swamp Thing) Brett Tucker as Australian foreign minister David Rylance (Dynasty, Mistresses, Station 19) Jodie Bianca Wise as Melody Roos (The Prestige, Expats) Paul Fitzgerald as president Perry Morgan (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Dare Me, Power Book III: Raising Kanan) Sumalee Montano as Dana Hammond (The Deal, The Lost Symbol) JD Hall as George McCutheon (Paradise, 9-1-1) Julieth Restrepo as Elsyie Chayle (Griselda, News of a Kidnapping) James Babson as Daryl Armogeda (Hellboy, The Words) Timothy Horner as Partrick Doumbe (Future Man, Unstoppable) Aubrey Wakeling as Walpole Bing (The 5th Dimension, Psychos) Andrew Friedman as Irv Samuelson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Better Call Saul) Roslyn Gentle as Rachel Middlekauff (Days of Our Lives, Picnic at Hanging Rock)How many episodes are there?
The Residence will be released in the UK on Thursday 20 March from 7am (GMT).
All eight episodes will be available to stream on that date.
However, viewers will need a subscription to Netflix, which costs from £5.99 a month.
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