‘Scarpetta’ Interview: Bobby Cannavale and Ariana DeBose

(L to R) Ariana DeBose and Bobby Cannavale star in ‘Scarpetta’.

Premiering on Prime Video beginning March 11th is the new crime series ‘Scarpetta’, which is based on the popular book series by Patricia Cornwell, and was developed by showrunner Liz Sarnoff (‘Lost’), and directed by David Gordon Green (‘Halloween Ends’).

The series stars Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (‘The Hours’) in the title role, as well as Bobby Cannavale (‘Motherless Brooklyn’), Simon Baker (‘Margin Call’), Rosy McEwen (‘Rabbit Trap’), Jake Cannavale (‘The Mandalorian’), Hunter Parrish (‘Still Alice’), and Oscar winners Ariana DeBose (‘West Side Story’) and Jamie Lee Curtis (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’).

Moviefone recently spoke with Bobby Cannavale and Ariana DeBose about their work on Scarpetta, DeBose’s first reaction to the series and her approach to her character, Cannavale collaborating with his son Jake to portray the same role, and their experiences working with Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis.

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Lucy Farinelli-Watson (Ariana DeBose) in ‘Scarpetta’ Season 1. Photo Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to this series and your approach to playing Lucy and the grief that she is going through?

Ariana DeBose: I thought that was just inherently very compelling. I’d never seen a grief process dramatized in this way, with the tech elements, as we call it. I hope viewers will watch and tune in and find out exactly what I’m talking about. It allowed for an interesting exploration. I don’t know that it’s ever been explored in this way. I like trying new things. So, when you get an opportunity to play a character that is so wildly layered, not only in her personality or her circumstances, but in this very specific emotional process that she’s going through, and it’s in a sandbox with these great people? Yeah, I think I’ll do that.

(L to R) and Past Marino (Jake Cannavale) and Past Kay (Rosy McEwen) in ‘Scarpetta’ Season 1. Photo Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: Bobby, you and your son, Jake, both play the same character but in different time periods. Did you work together to create one seamless performance, or did it feel like you were both working on two separate projects?

Bobby Cannavale: You know, a little bit of both. I certainly didn’t want to tell him how to play the part. I think Jake’s physical mannerisms are a done deal. He knows how to look like me, and act like me. I guess what we talked about really was, where this guy was coming from before he met up with, Nicole’s character, Kay and how to incrementally find his way to a mutually respectful relationship with her because that is where they are 30 years later. So, we want that to grow incrementally. That’s why there is so much tension and static between them early on. I think that’s fascinating to watch. When we meet them 30 years later in the present day, they are harboring a pretty deep and dark secret. I think like calibrating where they are earlier in the show and making sure that we don’t get too far ahead for the audience, was something we did talk about.

(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Bobby Cannavale in ‘Scarpetta’ Season 1. Photo Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: Bobby, what was it like for you to work with Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis on this project?

BC: The way I heard about the project was I got a text from Jamie Lee, and I didn’t know Jamie. She got my number somehow. She’s very direct and I like people like that, especially in this business. I said, “What is it?” She went on and on about Patricia and Patricia’s work, which I had not read. She encouraged me to read some of her stuff and I did, and then, it was a no-brainer. Jamie is so talented. She’s so enigmatic and you just want to be around her energy. Nicole, I had worked with on ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ some years ago and I was up for playing with her again. That’s not a hard decision to make.

(L to R) Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman and Simon Baker in ‘Scarpetta’ Season 1. Photo Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: Finally, Ariana, what was your experience like working with Nicole and Jamie Lee to create the dynamic between those three characters?

AD: I will say every day I got to go to work, it was an exciting day because I knew I would get to be in the sandbox and just watch master’s at their craft and take notes. It’s like the finest form of flattery, right? When I watch something that I like, I put things in my toolbox. To share space and time and energy with them, it’s just a real gift. I think they’re the type of actors and artists that make all your chakras come alive when you’re in a scene with them. So, you’re going to sweat, but you’re going to have a great time. Ultimately, I think when you have the privilege to work with actors like Nicole, Jamie Lee, Bobby, and Simon (Baker), and really all the very fine actors in our cast, you come out better. Every day I got to go to work was like getting an education on the thing that I love to do.

‘Scarpetta’ premieres March 11th on Prime Video.

What is the plot of ‘’Scarpetta’?

Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) is a brilliant and beautiful forensic pathologist, the protagonist in a beloved series of crime novels. Inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro MD (retired), she employs advanced forensic technology to unravel mysteries and solve crimes. Throughout the series, Scarpetta, of Italian descent, navigates her investigative journey across various settings, including Florida, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina.