You can’t be a film buff if you aren’t familiar with Mark Strong’s cinematic oeuvre. As versatile as he is prolific, the British actor boasts a body of work that has as many award-winning films (“The Imitation Game,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “1917”) as it has blockbuster titles (“Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Shazam!”).

Throughout his eventful acting career, Mark has been directed by the legendary likes of Sam Mendes, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott, Guy Ritchie, Danny Boyle, Thomas Vinterberg, Mike Figgis and Jean-Jacques Annaud. 

For this writer, the invitation to interview the 61-year-old actor about his latest project, Hulu’s eight-part series “Nine Perfect Strangers”—whose second season premiered in the Philippines with a two-episode rollout on Prime Video on May 22—presented an opportunity to let Mark know how much we loved his Olivier Award-winning portrayal in director Ivo van Hove’s avant-garde adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” in the West End 10 years ago. Reminding him of that play brought a warm smile on Mark’s face and set the pleasant tone and easygoing vibe of our chat.

The pilot season of “Nine Perfect Strangers” was based on a novel by Liane Moriarty. The Australian author’s stories (including “Big Little Lies,” “Apples Never Fail”) are often singled out for their complexity and thematic diversity, making them ideal for shows driven by a strong and colorful ensemble. 

Asked in this CoverStory exclusive why he chose to join the production, Mark said, “I really enjoyed watching the first season. Director Jonathan Levine, who adapted the novel for the pilot season, was coming back to do the second one—and that was a big draw for me. Because when somebody gets an opportunity to refine and enhance a property that they know so well, I was convinced that he would have somewhere interesting to take it. That’s what got me reading the whole series, as well as realizing that my character, David, was a really fascinating one. That was principally what got me involved in it.”

‘Brilliant premise’

The series follows a merry mix of strangers chosen by health and wellness guru Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) to undergo a weeklong retreat in the Austrian Alps. They’re either battling their inner demons or relentlessly chasing self-improvement.

“It’s a brilliant premise for a TV series, isn’t it?” Mark quipped. “Because TV eats plot, it’s incredibly important that you have a narrative that keeps people engaged. Movies can be a little more forgiving, because you’re in a cinema. You don’t have a remote control in your hand, so you can’t just pop out and make yourself a cup of tea if you get bored.”

Looking deep in thought, he said, “Television really needs to engage viewers and keep them involved. And what better way to do that than to have nine different characters all converging in one place, ingesting mushrooms? Then you get to explore who they are, where they come from, what their relationships with each other are. I mean, it just works superbly as a TV show.”

Would Mark turn to Masha’s unorthodox methods for self-improvement? “I don’t know,” he said. “I suppose it depends on how much in need of help I’d be. Personally, I’m pretty self-sufficient. So far through life, I’ve been able to cope relatively well with the world and what it throws at me. But who knows? If I ever got to a place of desperation and needed something different, why not?”

In the episodes we’ve seen, David’s tardiness delays the start of Masha’s sessions. Is his billionaire character someone he can relate to?

“I feel like I’ve gotten to the age where I’m now playing characters like billionaires (‘All the Money in the World,’ ‘Billionaire Boys Club’) and emperors (‘Dune: Prophecy’), and people who are in charge and know everything (as the CIA chief in ‘Shadow Force,’ shown in Philippine cinemas last week),” he mused. “It resonated with me because David is so mysterious. At the beginning of the show, this character is meant to arrive but isn’t there and holds everything up. Then you start to wonder who this person is. And when he does arrive, it’s obvious that they all know who he is. So that was really fun to discover and play.”

Just as fascinating for Mark to decipher were David’s relationships with Masha and his son Peter.

“As for David’s son, played by Henry Golding, you can sense from Peter’s reaction to whether or not his father is coming to the retreat that there is some reticence there,” Mark pointed out. “The way Henry plays it, it’s obvious that there’s some history between them that might be a little tricky. You learn over the course of the series that David is not a particularly good father. Peter looks forward to spending time with David at this retreat, but he’s a bit nervous about that idea. You can sense that their relationship has probably been strained over the years.” 

“You also discover as the story progresses that David and Masha already know each other,” he added. “So David isn’t there just to bond with his son. There are other motives at work.”

‘Confident in itself’

Now that the show is on its second season, one of the things that it has to avoid is the so-called sophomore slump. We asked Mark what he thought would set Season 2 apart from the first one.

“It’s very confident in itself; it knows what it is now,” he said. “That’s true of any series that gets made as a second season. The first one is always intriguing, and it gets you involved. But the real difficulty is when you give it a second go, because you’ve got to create something that is as good as the first. There must be a reason that a second one is made.” 

“In a way,” he added, “you have to make Season 2 even better, even though it has to be slightly different. And I think they have achieved that superbly with this. Obviously, it’s a different group of people with a different set of problems, but Jonathan Levine has created a real jewel.” 

Mark also said he really enjoyed watching the first four episodes of “Perfect Strangers” so far. “I don’t always watch stuff that I’ve done,” he admitted. “I like doing it more than I do watching it. But for this one, I was intrigued to see where the story was going. 

He continued: “It has managed to enhance what they delivered in the first season. Because in the first season, the characters were unaware that they were being ‘micro-dosed’ (or given small doses of psilocybin) until about four or five episodes in. Here, it starts with the premise that everybody knows exactly why they’re coming to the retreat, so there isn’t a mystery in why they’re there. What we’re now intrigued by is who they are.”

We also asked Mark what his experience was like working with two Filipino actresses—first with Chai Fonacier in the 2022 horror drama “Nocebo,” and now with Dolly de Leon (as Agnes, an ex-nun who has lost her faith) in “Nine Perfect Strangers.” 

In Lorcan Finnegan’s “Nocebo” (74% on Rotten Tomatoes), fashion designer Christine (former Bond girl Eva Green) enlists the help of Filipino nanny Diana (Chai) when she finds herself afflicted with a strange illness that frustrates her husband Felix (Mark) and confounds her doctors. 

‘Sweet,’ ‘hilarious’

“Both Dolly and Chai are incredibly charming people; they were very sweet and lovely,” Mark recounted with a smile. “Chai was amazing as we were filming in the middle of Dublin just post-Covid (in 2021). I really felt for her, that she had to come to this strange place on the other side of the world and lock herself up in a room for 10 days before we could actually start filming. But she was unfailingly sweet and really committed and was such a good worker.” 

What about Dolly? “I really loved working with her because she’s hilarious,” Mark said. “In the series, her character is quite serious. One of the joys of being in a show like this is that you read the whole thing, then when you start filming it, you concentrate on the scenes you’re doing. I hadn’t seen what anybody else was doing the first time I read the script, so I had a lot of fun watching how the other actors brought their parts to life.” 

“And Dolly is phenomenal!” he said. “She’s so moving, and her storyline is very intriguing. It was fascinating to see because the person that I spent time on set with was just so different. She was so much fun!”

Early reviews suggest that “Nine Perfect Strangers 2” has delivered on its promise, with Collider describing the series as “beautifully crafted” despite being “tonally messy.” It further states, “All the characters are interesting and get a chance to shine…There really isn’t a bad performance among the bunch. But Agnes is particularly intriguing, especially with De Leon’s subtle yet powerful performance. She makes the former nun both grounded and mysterious, feeling like the heart of the show alongside Matteo (Aras Aydin).”

Now isn’t that something to crow about?

Read more: Why Dolly de Leon sought Sister Mary John’s advice for her role in Nicole Kidman series