Michelle Williams and Oscar Isaac are teaming up for a new HBO limited series based on a critically acclaimed Swedish drama. The actors are set to play a married couple on the brink of divorce in the adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s
Scener ur ett äktenskap or Scenes From A Marriage, which debuted on Swedish TV in 1973.In addition to starring in the upcoming series, Williams and Isaac will also produce the new HBO property. The updated
Scenes From A Marriage will feature a 21
st century American lens on the story about love, relationships, affairs, divorce and identity. Hagai Levi, who is best known for writing about messy and complicated relationships in his Golden Globe winning series
The Affair, has been tapped to write, direct and executive produce
Scenes From A Marriage.Williams has recently had major success with a limited series. The
Dawson’s Creek alum took home an Emmy, SAG Award, Critic’s Choice Award and Golden Globe for her work as dancer Gwen Verdon in the FX series
Fosse/Verdon. The critically acclaimed series is also where Williams met her new husband, director Thomas Kail. The pair are rumoured to have
quietly gotten married earlier this year before they welcomed their first child together in
June. Kail is best known in the theatre world, having directed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s
In The Heights and winning a Tony Award for his work on
Hamilton. Yeah, that
Hamilton.No stranger to bringing complicated romantic relationships to life on screen, Williams has been up for an Oscar four times thanks to her work in
Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, Manchester By the Sea and
My Week With Marilyn. As for Isaac, the actor is best known for his role as Poe Dameron in
Star Wars, but has also delivered several critically acclaimed dramatic roles, including his work on the 2015 miniseries
Show Me A Hero and the Coen brothers film
Inside Llewyn Davis, earning Golden Globe nominations for both roles.The original
Scenes From A Marriage was a six-episode series that examined the romantic relationship of a couple played by Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. Ullmann and Bergman were in a five-year relationship during the 1960s and the series is based in part on the couple’s time together, which included the birth of their daughter Linn.
Scenes From A Marriage was considered to have contributed to a
rise in divorce rates in Sweden after its release, which says a lot about the quality of the acting and writing.Following its release as a miniseries,
Scenes From A Marriage was condensed and released in theatres as a feature film. Ullmann was nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for her role as a divorce lawyer who is struggling with her own marriage to Josephson in the story, which takes place over two decades. The film version eventually took home the Globe for Best Foreign Film. Bergman’s work, including
Scenes From A Marriage, helped to influence a generation of filmmakers and his impact can still be seen today in features like Noah Baumbach’s 2019
Marriage Story.[video_embed id='1992184']Before you go: Zendaya shot a movie in secret during the pandemic[/video_embed]
