Amy Ryan Joins Emilia Jones In Netflix Drama Series ‘The Retrievals’ From Molly Smith Metzler
Netflix has cast Amy Ryan opposite Emilia Jones in "The Retrievals," a new drama series from Molly Smith Metzler, the creator of "Maid" and "Sirens." The show is based on the Peabody Award-winning New York Times podcast by Susan Burton and dramatises a real-life scandal in which a group of IVF patients banded together to take legal action against Yale University after a nurse's theft of fentanyl left them undergoing egg retrieval surgery without anaesthesia. The casting marks a significant step for Ryan, who takes on her first series regular role in the project.
Ryan will play Carla Russo, the nurse who pleaded guilty to diverting fentanyl and replacing it with saline, while Jones plays Gabby Clemente, one of the affected patients who leads the legal fight against Yale. Metzler serves as writer and showrunner, executive producing through her Quiet Coyote banner alongside Colin McKenna and LuckyChap's Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Dani Gorin, with Lila Neugebauer directing the pilot. Ryan, an Oscar nominee for "Gone Baby Gone" known for roles in "The Wire," "The Office" and "Only Murders in the Building," will next appear in Tom McCarthy's "A Statement" at the New York Film Festival.
- Amy Ryan joins Emilia Jones in Netflix's "The Retrievals"
- Based on true story of Yale fertility clinic fentanyl scandal
- Molly Smith Metzler writes and showruns; Ryan's first series regular role
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Netflix is developing a scripted drama series based on a real-life medical scandal at Yale University, in which fertility patients underwent painful egg retrieval procedures without proper pain relief after a nurse was found to have stolen the anaesthetic drug fentanyl for her own use. The show, called "The Retrievals", takes its name from a New York Times podcast that first told the story and won a prestigious Peabody Award for its reporting.
The series comes from Molly Smith Metzler, a writer and producer already known for Netflix hits "Maid" and "Sirens", who will again act as showrunner. Two actors have now been confirmed for the lead roles: Emilia Jones, best known for the Oscar-winning film "CODA", will play one of the patients who pursued legal action against Yale, while Amy Ryan, an Oscar-nominated actor recognised for parts in "The Wire" and "The Office", will play the nurse at the centre of the scandal.
The casting is notable partly because it is Ryan's first time taking a leading, ongoing role in a television series, after a long career mostly built on supporting parts and guest appearances. The project also has backing from high-profile Hollywood names, including Margot Robbie's production company, which adds to the attention surrounding it ahead of the show going into production.