Scarpetta brings best-selling author Patricia Cornwell's iconic literary character to life in a gripping new Prime Video series starring Nicole Kidman as Dr. Kay Scarpetta. With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn't also her undoing.
Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs.
From Emmy-nominated writer, executive producer, and showrunner Liz Sarnoff, Scarpetta unfolds across two timelines. This dual narrative explores Kay Scarpetta's journey from her beginnings as a Chief Medical Examiner in the late '90s to her present-day return to her hometown, where she resumes her former position while investigating a grisly murder.
Last week, we sat down with the best-selling author—her books have sold more than 120 million copies—and Scarpetta's showrunner to discuss finally bringing the 29 novel series (and counting) to our screens.
Cornwell talks to us about this adaptation and the lasting appeal of her characters, while Sarnoff explains how she chose which books to pull inspiration from. Then, they both chime in to explain what made Kidman the right choice to bring Dr. Kay Scarpetta to life in the Prime Video series.
You can watch our interview with Cornwell and Sarnoff in the player below.
Patricia, I've been a fan of these books since I was a teenager. Like many fans, I've been waiting a long time for this adaptation. So I'd love to know what made this TV series the right one for you to bring these characters to the screen, finally?
Patricia Cornwell: Well, first of all, it was Jamie Lee Curtis who went into producing and decided that she wanted to do it. And when she decides something, there you have it. It's like a train going down the track. You are not going to stop it. And then we were so lucky to attract Liz Sarnoff, who's the first person ever to figure out how to adapt this and make it work because every other effort over the last 36 years—actually even longer than that—has failed, including my own efforts when I've tried to write screenplays and so on. So it's just the right people all came together and formed this perfect storm of talent.
Liz, you've got 29 novels you could pick and choose from, but to tell this story over two different periods in Kay's life—where did the inspiration for that come from?
Liz Sarnoff: Well, I really love the books. I read them when they came out. I'm a huge fan of Patricia's as well. And so I loved the way that the crime-solving has changed. I thought, to start, we want to start far enough in the past that we were still waiting for DNA, basically and start enough in the future that we weren't. And I thought that would be an interesting thing to see, how crimes are solved 30 years apart. And also, I wanted to see what the characters were like. Patricia had written a book called Autopsy where the characters were a little older and I was just fascinated to see them again. And I thought, well, we should see both of these characters because the young one's irresistible and the older one's totally dynamic. And that's sort of where it grew out of.
Patricia, you've obviously spent decades with this character, telling her story. What do you really think has given Kay, Pete, Lucy, and all these characters this lasting appeal as a storyteller and for fans who read the books?
Patricia Cornwell: Well, you know, it's like my children have finally grown up and gone off to college, and they don't write me very often anymore, and there's a little bit of an empty nest syndrome, I think, although I'm still writing about them. But here's the good news: seeing these actors playing these people has actually made me like my characters even more than I did before. And it makes my writing—I think my writing is getting better. I'm also studying what all these talented people do, and I see what works. I go, you could learn something from that. You should try a little bit of that when you're doing your next story. But it's weird because I've lived with it all by myself for so long. So thank goodness it's in the hands of people that I like and respect. And that makes it a good experience.
You have a great cast from top to bottom. For both of you, when did you realise that Nicole Kidman and Rosie McEwan were the right people to bring these two versions of Kay Scarpetta to life?
Liz Sarnoff: I don't think there was anybody but Nicole for us. Jamie had a small relationship with her, and I had met with her producer and mentioned that I was working on this, and he said, well, let us know the minute it's done. And from that point on, I don't think any of us really looked back. And then Nicole demanded that Jamie be in the show. And then we found Rosie, who not only bears an uncanny resemblance to Nicole but is just a beautiful actress.
Patricia Cornwell: Who, you know, they're seamless, the two of them, between them. And they work together. They worked separately, and they created something really magical. I think when I watch them in the series, and this is—you would think if anybody would say well that's not quite like or that's not exactly—I am totally sold. I completely believe them as Scarpetta, the younger and the older. It never even crosses my mind that there was ever anybody but them to play that, and that's telling the truth. It's amazing.
Scarpetta will launch exclusively on Prime Video on March 11.