Based on the best-selling novel by Tia Williams, The Perfect Find, is a perfectly unexpected warm and fuzzy romantic comedy. For fashion editor Jenna (Gabrielle Union), life hasn’t panned out as planned. After a year away from New York City following the demise of her decade-long relationship with her ex, Brian (DB Woodside), Jenna finds herself desperate to restart her career. However, rebuilding her reputation in a business that has moved on without her puts Jenna at the mercy of Darcy (Gina Torres), her career rival.
Though she takes a job at Darcy’s magazine to reestablish herself, Jenna quickly becomes hopelessly enamored with Eric (Keith Powers), the magazine’s very fine and enigmatic twenty-something videographer, who happens to be Darcy’s son. Though their entanglement isn’t without complications, Jenna and Eric find themselves pulled toward one another, with dazzling modern-day New York City as their backdrop.
Ahead of The Perfect Find’s Netflix debut, Shadow and Act sat down to speak with Union, Powers and Torres about bringing Williams’ romantic tale to life, working with Janet Hubert, and all that delicious chemistry.
“I bought that book the first day it came out,” Union says, recalling how she came aboard the project. “I was obsessed. I couldn’t figure out who had gotten the rights. A couple of years later, [I] run into Tommy Oliver at lunch, and he was like, ‘Hey, are you familiar with The Perfect Find, Tia Williams?’ I was like, ‘Yes.’ And he was like, ‘So I have the rights.’ And I was like, ‘We should work together.’”
With The Inspection actress on board as an executive producer, she and Oliver brought on Jezebel director Numa Perrier. Powers stepping into the role of Eric gelled everything together. The Straight Outta Compton actor’s shorthand with Union, built on years of friendship, allowed the chemistry to leap off the screen. “Gab is just easy. She’s super fun to work with,” Powers explains. “She’s super authentic. So it’s all about being authentic, even after scenes and talking about stuff. I’m an up-and-coming actor; she’s a vet in the game. You never know. Everyone’s different. You never know how to approach a space, what you can talk about, what you can’t talk about, how people work, and who they want to be around. Gabby is all about community and a team. And I thought that was really fun and amazing because I work better like that. So I enjoyed that.”
Torres is no stranger to playing larger-than-life roles. Therefore, embodying Darcy was just a world of fun. “Well, having read the script, I had an idea of who she would be and what she felt like to me, in my heart and my head,” the Suits actor explains. “And then you go to the wardrobe fitting, and it just supported everything I was feeling about the kind of space that she takes up in her world, which is such an important layer to play with. Then that gives birth to Darcy. Then you find yourself opposite Gabrielle Union, and you’re like two kids in a sandbox and going, ‘Let’s build something.’”
Working with Janet Hubert, or as most people know her, the OG Aunt Viv from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was also a magical experience for the cast. “A dream, A dream, a dream, a dream,” Union gushed. “And we just weren’t sure if she would say yes. And we were blessed that she agreed to come play with us. And I mean, the whole set was just like, “Wow.” Because she gives you that, and she deserves that.”
The Perfect Find debuts on June 23, 2023, on Netflix.
Watch the full interviews above.
