A sexually charged May-December relationship…between mother and son? And mother and daughter-in-law? That’s what makes Amazon Prime’s The Girlfriend so salacious and fun, according to Robin Wright and Laurie Davidson.
Amazon Prime’s The Girlfriend starts like a sexy, erotic thriller.
Laura (Robin Wright) enters her house alone, and when she jumps in the pool, a man attacks her. Is it an intruder? Her lover? None of the above. It’s her son, Daniel, played by Laurie Davidson.
“This was like doing a comedy sketch,” says Wright. “And going, okay, this is the really perverse mom who wants to kiss her boy on the lips? It’s all fun and games at the end. You’re trying to do the most exaggerated thing to hook the audience, truthfully. Let’s go as far as we can go. We were looking for how gross we could get.”
Laura becomes obsessed with Daniel’s new girlfriend, Cherry, played by Olivia Cooke. She doesn’t think she’s right for her son and does everything possible, including some unforgivable things, to prevent them from being together. It’s sort of like Meet the Parents…if there was sexual tension between Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller. Or Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller and Teri Polo!
Davidson says the mother-son dynamic crept into the on-set dynamic, especially since Wright was also the director.
“When you’re playing any relationship, the longer you’re in it, the more it starts to seep into your being,” says Davidson. “Robin was my mom, and we got really close. But then she’s also my director, which is a very different thing. Some of the intimate scenes between Daniel and Cherry, those were the weird ones for me. Suddenly, I was like, ‘Mom’s in the room while I’m doing these scenes!’ That played into those awkward moments and fed them even more.”
Wright and Davidson discuss why such a normal dude drives two grown women completely bonkers and why Laura and Cherry might be friends (or the same person!) in a different life. Watch or listen below!
