Jennifer Ehle and Emily Meade on their Amazon remake of Cronenberg's classic Dead Ringers

The pair discuss the challenges and triumphs of taking a celebrated classic in bold new directions

Emily Meade, who plays Susan in Dead Ringers, said she was drawn to the show by its script. Photo: Amazon Studios

David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller Dead Ringers is regarded as one of the finest Canadian films.

Released in 1988, it stars Jeremy Irons as identical twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Gynaecologists who run their own practice, Elliot repeatedly has affairs with his patients, then, when he becomes bored by them, Beverly replaces him as their lovers.

This is only one aspect of renowned playwright Alice Birch’s audacious and subversive remake of the psychological thriller. Not only has she switched the gender of the lead characters, with Rachel Weisz taking on the roles, she’s also extended the 115-minute film into six hour-long episodes.

But while most creatives would be too scared to reimagine any of Cronenberg’s work, let alone one of his finest films, Birch’s history as a theatre, television and film writer always suggested she had the talent to do something new with the story.

The Normal People, Succession, Lady Macbeth and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again writer uses the tale to examine and challenge old medical practices and ethics, and instead focus on women’s health care. Rather than feeling indebted to the original, Birch’s remake feels like its own story.

Bafta and Tony winner Jennifer Ehle, who portrays Rebecca in the series, always expected Birch to take Dead Ringers to new and unexpected places.

“I’ve always loved her work. I’ve loved her plays. And the script was just extraordinary,” she tells The National over Zoom. “Her scripts are so smart, funny and bonkers. She’s not like anybody else. None of what she has done feels like it’s ever been done before. This is just so fun, dark and smart.”

Emily Meade, who stars in Dead Ringers as Susan, was also immediately impressed by Birch’s take on this bizarre yet intoxicating tale of twins. “She is able to talk about these really interesting macro things ... but then the characters are just written with such nuance. The way she manages to weave in a darkness, a humour and commentary without it being obnoxiously in your face is just so great.”

It wasn’t just the scripts that convinced the actresses to sign up. Another attraction was the opportunity to work with Weisz. “Rachel is one of my favourite actors in the world,” says Ehle, with Meade quickly adding that it was a “complete no-brainer” to sign up for Dead Ringers once she saw Weisz was involved.

While Dead Ringers might sound as though it is very intense and serious, Ehle is keen to stress that it’s also “really fun and super entertaining to watch unfold”. In fact, she believes that it’ll stand up to several viewings, as each episode is full of detail that viewers might have missed the first time around.

Meade actually got to enjoy a little more of Birch’s writing than Ehle. After being cast, Meade reached out to Birch for extra information on her character. Unsurprisingly, Birch was more than forthcoming to the actress, and she emailed “all of this backstory” to her, “which was incredibly helpful”. She adds: “It was just so specific and it made me incredibly prepared from day one.”

While Ehle watched the original film when it was released, Meade decided to avoid Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers as she didn’t want it to affect her performance. However, she has since seen it and she spotted numerous Easter eggs and references that Birch included. “They’re both different,” adds Meade. “But we honour the movie a lot in our show.”

When it comes to Dead Ringers’ release, neither actress has set any benchmark for its success. Ehle even admits that she’s not sure how such success is even measured any more.

“I do think that this is an extraordinary show,” insists Ehle. “I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of it. It felt like there was a lot of magic around from the very beginning.” Meade echoes this sentiment, explaining that as soon as she received the scripts from her agent, the 34-year-old actress was told: “This is what you want to be doing.”

Considering the vast amount of shows that are regularly released by streamers, most of which star big-name stars, Ehle believes that Dead Ringers has all the credentials to attract its own devoted fan-base.

“I hope that audiences will feel that rush of excitement you get when you discover a new show. It can be so exciting, can’t it? Because there is so much content,” continues Ehle. “When you find a show that you can’t wait to watch again and again, it’s such a rush. I hope that this is that for viewers.”

For Meade, Dead Ringers’ mixing of genres, as it goes from drama to thriller to comedy, should also chime with viewers, especially as it also subtly explores thought-provoking thematic content so powerfully, too.

“I hope people find themselves laughing uncomfortably when they watch it. I want them to laugh and think a lot when they watch it. It touches on so many important things. It’s just entertaining and exciting. You won’t want to stop watching it, while, secretly, it forces you to think about bigger things.”

All six episodes of Dead Ringers will debut on Amazon Prime on April 21