In Prime Video‘s twisty new series The Better Sister, Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks play estranged siblings Chloe and Nicky, who reunite after the murder of Chloe’s husband threatens to expose years-old devastating family secrets. And as Banks tells The Hollywood Reporter, the two actors have long known that they bear a resemblance to one another. “I’d been told for years that we looked alike, that we could be sisters,” she said during a recent THR Presents panel. “It felt like serendipity that [this project] finally happened.”
The series, which is streaming now, is based on Alafair Burke’s novel of the same name. Co-showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado developed the source material because they were drawn to both the savagery between the sisters and the broader themes at play. “I was really drawn to the idea that siblings get different versions of their parents,” says Milch. “That felt like a really universal story, on top of the murder mystery.”
The production approached both Biel and Banks simultaneously, hoping to bring them both on board the series as a package deal. Biel was intrigued — “I love a murder mystery,” says the actress, who also starred in the 2022 Candy series about Candy Montgomery — but had to figure out how her involvement was going to work logistically, since the shoot required a long stint in New York while her husband Justin Timberlake was on tour. The chance to dig into the complicated sister relationship, and with Elizabeth Banks, eventually won out over the logistics.
“I love your spontaneity and your unpredictability,” Biel said to Banks during the panel.” On set, I was always like, what is she gonna do? I want to cultivate that in myself, it’s something I want to work on.”
Adds Banks: “But Nicky’s whole goal with Chloe is to throw her off balance. It is to jab her in the side. Like, you’re not better than me; I know who you are; everything you’re saying is bullshit. I have moral superiority the whole time — she stole my husband and my son. I’ve forgiven, but I haven’t forgotten.”
Above, watch the stars and the showrunners discuss the origin story and what it was like to bring the novel to life.
This edition of THR Presents is sponsored by Prime Video.
