Apple TV’s New 8-Part Thriller Series Adaptation Took 6 Years To Finally Make Despite Its Star Power

The Imperfect Women cast features Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Joel Kinnaman, Leslie Odom Jr., and Wilson Bethel. The story is based on Aramantina Hall’s novel of the same name, which explores the secrets that are unearthed between close friends Eleanor (Washington), Mary (Moss), and Nancy (Mara) after one of them turns up dead. The adaptation consists of eight episodes, two of which were released for the Apple TV premiere on March 18.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Tatiana Hullender for Imperfect Women, Moss, who is one of the show’s executive producers, discussed how she first read the book years ago and sent it to her producing partner Lindsey McManus. This led to their six-year journey to making the adaptation a reality, but Moss knew as soon as she read the novel that she was best-suited to play Mary, despite briefly considering the roles of Eleanor or Nancy. Washington agreed with this assessment, noting that the part of Mary “spoke to you.” Check out Moss’ comments below:

I read it right away in 2019. I bought it at the airport. I was on my way to shoot somewhere, and I needed a good beach read. So I read it, and very quickly, because it’s a great beach read, and I sent it to my producing partner, Lindsey. I said, “Should we buy this?” She said, “Yes.” That all happened — Literally, I was still in Hawaii, working, on the phone, buying the book, and then it took only six years to get it made, because that’s this industry. Mary, I decided really early. Mary, I knew when I read the book. Of course, when I was reading it, I was thinking, “Oh, maybe Eleanor.” And then when I read Nancy, I was like, “Oh, maybe Nancy,” but I could never be a Nancy. And when I got to Mary, I was like, ” Oh yes, definitely Mary.”

It’s definitely Mary. She just felt—I don’t know—it just felt right.

Nancy became a socialite after marrying the wealthy Robert (Kinnaman), Eleanor is a single woman focused on her career, and Mary is a stay-at-home mother married to Howard (Stoll), who is a college professor. As with all the core characters, there is far more to Mary than meets the eye, especially as she discovers and reacts to the numerous secrets that certain loved ones have been keeping from her.

With a 50% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews, the response has been divisive so far. Many of Imperfect Women‘s reviews take issue with the pacing and narrative cohesion, but praise the stellar performances, particularly from the leading trio of Moss, Washington, and Mara. Each of the three women gets a section of the show that primarily focuses on their perspective, allowing each of them to be understood with more depth as they contend with unresolved trauma.

Imperfect Women is Moss’ first role since The Handmaid’s Tale ended in 2025. She played the role of June Osborne/Offred since the Emmy Award-winning show began in 2016 and over the course of its six seasons. A spinoff show, The Testaments, makes its debut on Hulu on June 8. Moss is an executive producer and the series sees Ann Dowd reprising the role of Aunt Lydia.

The first two episodes of Imperfect Women are streaming on Apple TV. The remaining six episodes release weekly through April 29.