‘Imperfect Women’ a psychological thriller

Elisabeth Moss knew the moment she finished “Imperfect Women” by Araminta Hall, it had to be a TV series.

Moss acquired the rights to the novel and after years of planning brought the series to the world, along with Kerry Washington and Kate Mara.

According to Apple TV, the psychological thriller, which premiered March 18, examines a crime that shatters the lives and decades-long friendship of three women. The series explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal. As the investigation unfolds, so does the truth about how even the closest friendships may not be what they seem.

Alongside Washington, Moss and Mara, the ensemble cast includes Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., Audrey Zahn, Jill Wagner, Rome Flynn, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Violette Linnz, Indiana Elle, Jackson Kelly, Keith Carradine, Ana Ortiz, Wilson Bethel and Sherri Saum.

A new episode of “Imperfect Women” is released each Wednesday through April 29 on Apple TV.

Moss — who had just finished directing a handful of episodes of the final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” — decided not to keep her directing hat on for this project. She wanted to be part of the ensemble.

She says she has a new perspective after sitting in the director’s chair.

“After becoming a director and seeing what an actor can do for you and how they can bring something to life, they can save you. They can make something that wasn’t working sing,” Moss says. “(It’s) how they can just bring you to your knees when you’re watching the monitor and give you chills. (It’s been) post directing that I was like, ‘actors are amazing. They’re so important.’”

Washington was drawn to the project for many reasons.

She enjoys playing supporting characters, but as she looked at the project, she was drawn to the complexity and understanding of her character Eleanor.

“I love that, for this show, you have three women who sit at the center of the story at different times,” Washington says. “The title speaks to the complexity in terms of the imperfections. Our characters do pretend and then we get to reveal the truths underneath their pretense, which is really exciting.”

Washington was also drawn to the narrative because it really dug into women’s stories.

“(These) are friendships that have happened over a long period of time. That’s part of it,” Washington says. “Part of it is (we are) actresses who’ve been on the planet for a certain amount of time and have the ability to produce and create stories that are about women our age, which means that there’s a lived experience, a depth that we can bring to it that is really exciting.

“One of the things the show is about, is it’s this fun, juicy ride where you never know, like, who’s telling the truth and who’s betraying who, and who’s sleeping with who, and ... where it lands you is that there’s so much power when you have the courage to reveal the truth. And that real intimacy is on the other side of that fear of being who you really, really are.”

As executive producers, Moss and Washington worked closely with Hall on the adaptation of her novel.

“Araminta has been unbelievable to work with,” Moss says. “She has been incredibly supportive of everything we’ve wanted to do. She was incredibly supportive of the moving of the locations. There’s a couple key things that are different, but we were pretty close to the book, and that was important as well, because the book is awesome.

“The book is what we originally read that we loved. So we didn’t want to differ too much from the book, because it is really good, and it’s just such a great read. And so I think that we were very respectful of staying as close to the book as possible as well, which I’m sure was also appreciated on Araminta’s side.”