The actresses have worked together before: here, they are pictured in Cannes in 2017 as they arrive for a screening of The Beguiled
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The series is based on a soon-to-be-published short story by New York Times bestselling author Chandler Baker, whose novels include Whisper Network and The Husbands. The eight-part show follows two women who work at a competitive law firm in Dallas: partner Sharon (Nicole Kidman) and new summer associate, Lenny (Elle Fanning). It’s not long before Lenny uncovers a web of NDAs masking a ‘dark truth’, reads the logline. ‘When she realises she signed the same agreement, her discoveries put her in the crosshairs of the firm’s most powerful female partner, Sharon – upending their mentor-protégé dynamic and raising the question: who gets to keep secrets, and at what cost?’
Before becoming a novelist, Baker worked as a corporate lawyer, so it’s reasonable to assume that Discretion will benefit from plenty of insider information about the cut-and-thrust of the legal world. Writing on Instagram about the adaptation, she said: ‘My husband is always gently encouraging me to take some concentrated time away to write. This summer I decided to take him up on it and went for one night … to write Discretion, a story that [production company Linden Entertainment’s] Jordan Cerf has been (also gently) encouraging? Prodding? Me to write for well over a year inspired by my time as a corporate lawyer negotiating hundreds of NDAs a year. I wrote it over the course of two days and now here we are!’