Netflix’s ‘The Retrievals’ adds Oscar-winning star alongside Emilia Jones and Amy Ryan
Jessica Chastain has joined Netflix’s upcoming drama series, ‘The Retrievals,’ created by Molly Smith Metzler, known for her work on ‘Maid’ and ‘Sirens.’ 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' actress will play Kaitlyn Langford, a former art historian entering her tenth year of fertility treatments. She becomes one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Yale Fertility Center after discovering she was a victim of criminal drug diversion there. Metzler said that when writing this role, Jessica Chastain was the “exemplar” for the team. She added, as per Tudum, “As a performer, she has the rare ability to convey extreme restraint and unbridled freefall, often at the same time. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about what Jessica’s going to do with this role.” Chastain joins the previously announced cast as one of the three women at the center of the story.
Emilia Jones (‘CODA,’ ‘Task’) stars as Gabby Clemente, a New Haven barista and student teacher who becomes involved in the civil suit after her own egg retrieval leads her to investigate and take Yale to court. Amy Ryan (‘The Office’) plays Carla Russo, the veteran nurse at the fertility clinic who illegally diverted fentanyl and diluted narcotic painkillers with saline solution. Kaitlyn and Gabby are plaintiffs in this case, and Carla is at the center of the wrongdoing. ‘The Retrievals’ is based on the Peabody Award-winning podcast investigative journalist Susan Burton’s work for The New York Times and Serial Productions. Metzler is set to serve as a showrunner, writer, and executive producer via her Quiet Coyote banner, reteaming with ‘Maid’ and ‘Sirens’ writer Colin McKenna and LuckyChap, where Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Dani Gorin also executive produce. Lila Neugebauer, who directed both of Metzler’s previous Netflix series, is set to direct the pilot.
Notably, nurse Donna Monticone stole fentanyl from the Yale Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic in Orange, Connecticut, and began diluting it with saline and replacing the fentanyl bottles with adulterated ones. An estimated 75% of the fentanyl given to patients in the Yale REI clinic from June to October 2020 was adulterated with saline, the Justice Department said. Monticone was sentenced to four weekends in jail, three months of home confinement, and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product.
Chastain has two other projects set to release in the coming weeks: the Universal Pictures horror film ‘Other Mommy,’ premiering on October 9, and the Netflix original thriller ‘Heartland,’ which releases in the U.S. on November 13. ‘The Retrievals,’ meanwhile, has yet to announce a premiere date.
