For a risqué anthology series loosely based on Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 film of the same name, The Girlfriend Experience took many by surprise when it premiered on Starz early last year.
Anchored by a fierce, nuanced performance from Riley Keough, Soderbergh’s limited series was lauded with praise for its engrossing depiction of intimacy and sexual relationships and the underlying power struggles they birth. A second season was fast-tracked into development and now, almost a year on from the show’s premiere, The Girlfriend Experience is gearing up for its return. And this time, Riley Keough has company.
Deadline is reporting that Anna Friel, Louisa Krause and Fantastic Beasts star Carmen Ejogo have all climbed aboard Starz’ escort drama, which will feature parallel storylines in its sophomore run. Before delving into timelines, it should be noted that Anna Friel will portray Erica Myles in The Girlfriend Experience, with Louisa Krause stepping into the shoes of Anna Greenwald. Ejogo, meanwhile, is on board as Bria Jones.
Behind the scenes, Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz will continue their tenure as the show’s creative lodestones, who will together write, direct and executive produce the show’s second season. In dividing the narrative between two separate characters, The Girlfriend Experience season 2 will jump between Washington D.C. and New Mexico during its 14-episode run.
Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz will delegate story duties between them, with each writer attached to an individual character arc. Starz’s press release describes the dual narrative as so:
Kerrigan’s storyline is set against the backdrop of the corrupting influence of dark money in the upcoming 2018 U.S. mid-term elections, where everything and everyone has a price. This section tracks an unexpected and complex relationship between Erica Myles (Friel), a commanding and strong-willed finance director of a Republican super PAC, and Anna Greenwald (Krause), a confident and intelligent GFE provider at the top of her game.
Seimetz’s storyline follows Bria Jones (Ejogo). After discovering disturbing information about a regular client, Jones is forced to relocate to a remote location in New Mexico. Unable to shake her desire for risky relationships and the finer things in life, Bria navigates her new penniless and surreal existence by forming eerily intimate transactional relationships. While Bria’s ghosts from the past continue to haunt, her new connections with men redefine the meaning of the Girlfriend Experience.
Stay tuned for more coverage of The Girlfriend Experience as we near the show’s second season.