Hong Kong’s Expats Gets Star-Studded Premiere As Nicole Kidman And Director Lulu Wang Reunite On The Red Carpet

When Nicole Kidman jetted into Hong Kong in 2021 to film Amazon Prime series Expats, it caused an uproar when she was exempted from quarantining during the city’s strict lockdown measures. And after an alleged bust up with director Lulu Wang, Kidman ended up leaving the city prematurely. But that was 2021, and now finally, almost 3 years later, the drama series is finally hitting our screens.

Expats, premiering Friday 26 January on Amazon Prime, is based on the eponymous novel by Janice Y.K. Lee and centres around three women, Margaret, Mercy and Hilary, played by Kidman, ‎Ji-young Yoo and ‎Sarayu Blue respectivelu, who are all expatriates living in Hong Kong. Their lives are all thrown into chaos when the young son of Kidman’s character, Margaret, goes missing in the city.

To celebrate the release, the cast and crew reunited at the Expats premiere held at the Museum of Modern Art on Sunday in New York.

“When Nicole came to me, to make the series, I just felt like she was meeting me at the height of the success of The Farewell. But people who know me from childhood know we were immigrants (from China),” director Lulu Wang told AP. “I felt like the series had to represent that aspect of my life, like, yes, I’m an American expat in certain contexts, but in another context, I’m a Chinese immigrant. I wanted to really challenge this idea of a bubble that expats have.”

At the time of filming on location in Hong Kong, things didn’t go as smoothly. Local media outlets reported that Kidman and Wang had disagreements over an emotional scene that took place inside a pet shop near Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok. It reportedly turned into a heated argument that ended with Kidman storming off the set. Filming was put on hold for three days before Kidman requested for a two-month leave away from the city.

The drama didn’t just occur on set. After being spotted filming on the streets of Hong Kong, locals were furious that Kidman was able to enter the city and work without having to quarantine like everybody else. Officials justified Kidman’s exemption on the grounds that she was in Hong Kong “for the purpose of performing designated professional work, taking into account that it is conducive to maintaining the necessary operation and development of Hong Kong’s economy.”

Fortunately, all these years later, the restrictions are lifted, the series is out and the reviews are in. The show’s and its portrayal of the city is already garnering positive reviews from critics, with the Hollywood Reported dubbing it a “rewardingly messy Hong Kong-set Amazon series”.