Netflix’s new White House murder mystery, The Residence, will keep fans guessing until the last episode, but creator Paul William Davies went in already knowing who he had in mind as the killer.
“I did know [who the killer was] from the beginning — who it was, how it happened, all of it, and how it would all unfold, before I ever wrote the first episode,” Paul told Netflix ahead of the show’s premiere on March 20. “I did leave myself room to still find different characters and voices, and there were definitely revelations to me along the way in the writing of it. I changed some things, but nothing super fundamental or structural because it was too precise. And for me, making it all make sense was really important.”
Despite the series focusing on the murder of one of the White House employees (RIP A.B. Wynter), it lends itself to a more comedic vibe than anything else.
“It’s funny, it’s suspenseful, it’s clever, it’s totally farcical in places, it’s genuinely emotional and romantic in others,” Paul explained. “The things I love the most do more than one thing. Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite movie is Charade, and it’s precisely because it does so much and does it all so well. It’s funny, it’s romantic, and it has an incredibly tight, coherent plot. It’s genuinely suspenseful and witty.”
The series features a star-studded cast with Orange Is the New Black alum Uzo Aduba taking the lead as Detective Cordelia Cupp. Fans will also recognize other familiar faces like Giancarlo Esposito, Jane Curtin, Jason Lee and even singer Kylie Minogue.
Netflix’s logline for The Residence reads, “132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion.”
With 157 suspects, Paul definitely had his work cut out for him when it came to figuring out the type of detective he wanted to solve the case. The Scandal producer explained that he took some inspiration from some of the greatest detectives in history like Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.
“The great detectives — Holmes, Marple, Poirot — all have an iconic look. You can identify them immediately, and I really wanted that for Cordelia. To be instantly recognizable,” Paul said, referencing The Residence’s main protagonist, Cordelia.
He added that he and costume designer Lyn Paolo “played around” with several looks before deciding on the one for Cordelia, but said as soon as they stumbled upon her style, they both instantly knew it was the right one.
“We felt passionately about it. It became indelible. And then we asked, ‘Does she wear this all the time? What are the rules here?’” And we decided, ‘OK, look, she doesn’t wear it all the time, when she’s birding and so forth,’” Paul continued. “But we loved the idea that she had different versions of her superhero outfit, and that’s why we see it in different colors and patterns. But it’s always absolutely, unmistakably Cordelia.”
