When thinking about sharks in Hollywood, most people’s first instinct is to think of the 1975 film Jaws. Although it has nothing to do with physical sharks, Roku’s new drama series Swimming With Sharks deals with metaphorical sharks. The series attempts to reveal the seedy underbelly of Hollywood executives and studios. No industry secret, more shows have been willing to expose this topic recently as studio executives like Harvey Weinstein have come under scrutiny for abusive behaviors and practices. Even with a push for more diversity and gender parity in Hollywood, people in these positions of power can still enact different kinds of abuse towards those who work for them if not checked.
Written by Kathleen Robertson and directed by Tucker Gates, the Roku series stars Kiernan Shipka and Diane Kruger respectively as an intern and a studio head at Fountain Pictures. The series is a dramatic adaptation of the 1994 film Swimming With Sharks by George Huang.
Watch the Swimming With Sharks Trailer
Swimming With Sharks' trailer released in March highlights the tensions of the series. Lou (Shipka) and a group of new arrivals are introduced into the workplace. They are quickly told “What you think means nothing, what you feel means nothing. You are an intern.”
At first, this feels like a fairly straightforward drama about a tyrannical boss not so far removed from The Devil Wears Prada. As the trailer progresses, things start to escalate. Scenes of sexual infidelity, interpersonal turmoil, and hints at violence strip back the Hollywood veneer of the show. A voiceover of Lou speaking relates to the audience “in Hollywood there are stories of love, success, where we live happily ever after, this is not one of those stories.”
The trailer promises to explore some violence and scandal hiding beneath the bright lights of the Hollywood sign. As the camera flits between scenes of Hollywood glitz and glamour, award shows and flowing gowns, sparkling dresses and flashing cameras, they are also paired with flashes of a much darker narrative taking place behind it all. A hand gripping a knife, a bloody crime scene, a body in a pool of blood in a bathtub, a body floating in a pool, all serve to remind the viewer that violence lurks somewhere in the shadows. When the words “Sometimes the prey becomes the predator” flash on the screen, it is a clear hint that Lou isn’t as innocent as we might have assumed.
The video ends on Lou riding away cross-legged on the back of a studio cart. The camera zooms in on Shipka’s face. Her half-smile, half-smirk, denotes something sinister in her character underneath her small, blonde frame. Is she who she says she is? What are her motivations? The trailer teases a series filled with both the glamorous and seedy sides of Hollywood.
When Is the Release Date of Swimming With Sharks?
Swimming With Sharks will be released via Roku on April 15, 2022. The series will consist of six thirty-minute episodes which will be available for streaming exclusively on Roku.
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Who Is in the Cast of Swimming With Sharks?
Kiernan Shipka and Diane Kruger play the lead roles in this dramatic adaptation of the 1994 film by George Huang. Shipka is no stranger to this kind of genre-bending reboot. In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a dark coming-of-age drama adaptation of the teen comic book series Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Shipka played the titular role of Sabrina Spellman.
Other series lead Diane Kruger, who is well-known to audiences for her roles in movies like Inglourious Basterds and National Treasure, hopes to bring a fresh take on the evil-boss stereotype. Speaking to Variety during the SXSW Festival, Kruger detailed how some of her negative Hollywood experiences led to her joining the Roku Channel show saying:
“What really drew me to this part is that it is the Hollywood of 2022. So women have careers, they put their families or their desires on the back burner. What does that mean once you are in a position of power? How do you complete your life? The vulnerability of this character, combined with this excessive abuse of power, was really intriguing to me.”
Donald Sutherland brings a veteran gravitas and acumen to the series. The two-time Golden Globe Award winner will play Redmond, an aging studio executive. Ross Butler, Thomas Dekker, Finn Jones, Erica Alexander, and Gerardo Celasco also star alongside Shipka and Kruger. Series writer Kathleen Robertsonalso has a major role on the show.
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What Is the Background of Swimming With Sharks?
Some film lovers may be familiar with the title of the show. Swimming With Sharks shares its name with the 1994 dark comedy film by George Huang. The film, starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes, Benicio del Toro, Jerry Levine, T.E. Russell, and Roy Dotrice, was also about the Hollywood studio system. The film and the upcoming series have some thematic similarities: The series is a gender-swapped adaptation of Huang’s film, which also explores themes that critique Hollywood, power, and scandal.
Whereas Huang’s film used its own brand of dark humor to make its critique, the show will be more on the side of drama than comedy. But both offer critiques of a Hollywood studio system that has much to hide. The show is produced by Lionsgate Television with Chris Cowles, Liz Destro, Stephen Israel, Jay Cohen, and Dana Brunetti serving as executive producers.
What Is the Plot of Swimming With Sharks?
Lou Simms (Shipka) is a new intern at Fountain Pictures. When she meets studio head Joyce Holt (Kruger), she is struck by her demeanor. Eventually, this interest develops into an obsession. As we learn that Lou is savvier about the industry than previously let on, we see the great lengths she will take to get closer to Joyce and the power that she represents. This will lead her down a path filled with secrets, scandal, violence, and danger, as she navigates behind the scenes of their studio system, uncovering the darker side of Hollywood.
Here's Roku's official synopsis for the series:
When Lou (Kiernan Shipka) starts her internship for Joyce, she seems like a naïve Hollywood newcomer. In truth, Lou has been obsessed with Joyce (Diane Kruger) for a long time and will do anything to get close to her… even kill.
