The Perfect Collaboration With Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss Brought Imperfect Women To Life on Screen
By Elizabeth Paige Richardson | March 17, 2026 | Best TV Shows of the Week
We have a serious appetite for more layered, complex women on our screens—female characters with tangled backgrounds, twisted morals, and haunting secrets. Luckily, Apple TV’s limited series Imperfect Women promises to deliver just that. The thrilling novel-turned-eight-episode drama puts a messy female friendship to the ultimate test when a crime exposes betrayals amid the chaotic hunt for the truth.
Series producers and stars Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington recently sat down with costar Kate Mara to tease the real-life experiences and biggest acting risks they took on set. They broke down what went through their minds when bringing Araminta Hall’s 2020 book to life for the streamer—and what they can’t wait for viewers to see for themselves.
Flaws are all part of being your authentic self
The core group of women in Imperfect Women is—big surprise—made of deeply flawed characters. There is no complete angel in friendship between Mary (Moss), Eleanor (Washington) and Nancy (Mara) as they struggle to come to terms with betrayal and keep their own skeletons in the closet in light of Nancy’s death.
But for all the flaws they try to keep secret from their inner circle, the actresses agree that things would have been much easier if their characters hadn’t fought so hard to keep up their crumbling facades.
“Everybody’s imperfect,” Washington said. “We’re all just doing the best we can, making the best choices we have. Nobody is perfect.”
Moss agreed, saying that keeping secrets out of fear of being judged by your closest circle of friends and “being so worried about somebody not liking you or somebody being mad at you… It’s those things that can really break friendships.”
Making mistakes doesn’t make you a villain
We won’t always get everything right, and sometimes we can even make a situation worse. Issues as simple as miscommunication can have a serious domino effect, turning into a disaster. Nancy goes down a dark path as she comes to terms with her unhappiness, but that doesn’t mean she’s a complete monster.
As they were bringing their characters to life on set, the actresses wondered what it meant to be irredeemable. Ultimately, the mystery in Imperfect Women is a reminder that nobody’s perfect 100% of the time.
“Loving the person while really knowing who they are and being able to help them with the things that they may want help with” is key to having an authentic friendship, Moss said.
“I think part of how we grow and evolve and learn is by having the courage to make mistakes,” Washington said. “So I think it’s important that we not villainize mistakes.”
“But we also all have our…moments of being the quote/unquote ‘villain,’” Mara chimed in.
Community is more than just a buzzword
In times of trouble, it’s better to have someone to lean on than to endure the hardship alone. Eleanor and Mary have to lean on each other as their relationships and everything they thought they knew about Nancy unravel as they take a hard look at the past.
Off-camera, the actresses credit the success and positive experience of bringing the thriller to Apple TV to a community of creatives rallying behind them.
“We’re always trying to, you know, I hope, improve ourselves and become our best version of ourselves,” Moss gushed about her costars and collaborators. “And working with two women who had that every day and seeing that was a very inspiring experience for me.”
“Self-love is not just what I do for me, it’s also how I give myself to community so that I’m part of an environment that’s loving and caring,” Washington said. “And I think that’s part of what they learn to find with each other.”
Imperfect Women streams on Apple TV starting March 18.
Photo credit: APPLE TV+
