In the new Netflix series, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, Kristen Bell stars as Anna, a heartbroken woman who's convinced she witnessed a gruesome murder. As the tongue-in-cheek title would imply, the show operates as a parody of psychological thrillers that follow a similar premise, hoping to craft an experience that's unique and entertaining. Co-starring alongside Bell are Michael Ealy and Tom Riley.
With The Woman in the House now streaming on Netflix, the trio took the time to speak to Screen Rant about the show's tone, the possibility of a season 2, and more.
Screen Rant: I went into it not knowing if we're getting Scary Movie-type parody, something a little more subtle, and I like the answer that we get. How do you describe the tone of this series?
Michael Ealy: I think the tone is very original, first of all. I don't think we've seen this done before. But the tone was absurd, right? We're kind of poking fun at a genre that has grown to take itself very seriously, despite some of the outrageousness that happens, and we just take it one step further and make it even more outrageous.
Every episode, I was like, "Oh, I should pour myself a glass of wine, actually!"
If I had to make a comparison, because us fans like to do that, Kristen it kind of reminded me a little bit of Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime with actress Sarah Marshall. Did you get that vibe at all?
Kristen Bell: You're dead on. Yes. Except we were playing it totally straight whereas in Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime, I guess Sarah Marshall was playing it straight, but yeah, that is very accurate. I did not consider that comparison, but I think you're dead on.
What is the trick of doing this, where it is a kind of subtle satire? I assume it goes against your acting tricks and rules. What are the tricks, Tom, that you use in the show to kind of play it subtly?
Tom Riley: Calling it a trick is interesting because I think, probably by halfway through, it did become a bit of a trick, being able to access the part of you that wasn't embarrassed that what you were doing was fundamentally bad. But that you were sort of expressing, credibly, what could be perceived as clunky dialogue, with the utmost sincerity and self-belief. It just feels so alien to you, when you spend so long trying to make something work and seem true. To just be like, "It doesn't matter whether or not it feels true to you. It feels true to the world. So just commit to the world and forget about you." That was the trick. I guess.
Kristen, if you had to satirize one of your own projects of the past. Which one would you want to do?
Kristen Bell: I mean, God, any of them? Most of the things I've been involved in have actually tried to be funny. It's only fun to make a satire of something that's not trying to be funny.
Maybe a Gossip Girl. Maybe they’ve done that. I feel like we should get a Fast & Furious one, which leads me to the question, Michael, where is Slap Jack? What happened to him? Where did he go? Is he coming back ever?
Michael Ealy: Man, I hope so. He's probably a little bit older now. And hopefully, he uses his government name at this point. I don't know. You know, I haven't gotten that call. They've made a lot of them without me. I blame Ludacris for this. I think it's his fault I haven't come back.
Well, we'd all like to see you back for sure. And finally, do we think we could get multiple seasons of the show? Is there a season two in mind that anyone here knows about?
Kristen Bell: Not yet, but I would definitely be involved. I think there's such an easy way to either have murders follow my character around or, like what Michael was saying, we all come back but we're different characters.
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window is now streaming on Netflix.