

Maid's supporting cast is deep and strong, but in the first few episodes, the best scenes are between Alex and her mom.

She keeps confronting crises, making decisions, and battling red tape and family members to move forward. We never know what's happening, or who's doing what, until Alex does. Her Alex is a central starring role: Maid is Alex's journey every step of the way. Qualley played dancer Ann Reinking in the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon, but that was a glamorous supporting role. She's played by Andie MacDowell, who dives into playing her manic-depressive character with all the fire and energy it requires. And with no money to pay a sitter, her only choice is a risky one: Her own mother, a free-spirited artist with wild sculptures and paintings, wild hair, and wild, manic eyes. But to land that job, she has to find someone to watch her daughter. She starts out with access to only $18, and we see that amount dwindle on screen with every purchase of another gallon of gas or dollar-store toy for Maddie.Įventually Alex gets a shot at an interview for a job working as a maid-for-hire at a daily cleaning service. We don't know where she's headed, and neither does she.Īlex (played by Margaret Qualley) has few options at the moment, and even less money. Maid is the story of Alex, a young woman who, in the opening scene, wakes up in the middle of the night, sneaks out of bed where her husband Sean is sleeping, and carries their 2-year-old daughter, Maddie, to the car, preparing to drive off.

She wrote many of the Maid episodes, Wells directed four of them, and together they've crafted a story that's told entirely from one point of view – with misunderstandings, missing information and flashes of fantasy all as part of the mix. Molly Smith Metzler, another writer on Shameless, is the creator Maid. Wells also was a writer and director on Shameless, the recently concluded, excellent Showtime series about a family struggling to make ends meet.Īrts & Life In 'Maid,' A Single Mother Finds 'No Way' To Make It On Minimum Wage
#New series 2019 netflix tv#
Maid's executive producers include actress Margot Robbie and veteran TV writer-producer John Wells, whose credits include China Beach, ER and The West Wing. But Land is on record approving of the TV show's approach - and the creative team has done a great job making this story both captivating and relatable. This includes some new characters, and some changing of actual locations and events. Most TV dramas adapted from books are identified in the opening credits as "based on," but Maid is called "inspired by," and there's a lot of new, fictional material added to the mix. Now, a new 10-episode Netflix adaptation brings Land's story to TV. In her 2019 memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, Stephanie Land writes candidly about trying to raise her young daughter while working as a maid for hire. Margaret Qualley plays a single mother living below the poverty line in the Netflix series Maid.
