Entertainment NOW

Entertainment Now | November 19 - 25, 2022 By Sarah Passingham TV Media E veryone, please welcome to the stage the latest true crime-based drama miniseries, "Welcome to Chippendales!" Premiering Tuesday, Nov. 22, on Hulu, the series stars Kumail Nanji- ani ("The Big Sick," 2017) as Chip- pendales founder Somen "Steve" Banerjee, following the entrepre- neurial businessman as he builds his male revue empire and be- comes embroiled in shocking crimes along the way. The storied history of the Chip- pendales dancers begins in 1979 when Banerjee attempts to bring in more female patrons to his Los Angeles club by introducing a male striptease troupe into the club's so- cial calendar. When the concept takes off, Banerjee enlists the help of club promoter Paul Snider, por- trayed by Dan Stevens ("Legion") in "Welcome to Chippendales," who flips the idea to another cho- reographer. Snider's involvement sets off a series of events that leaves several people in the Chip- pendales orbit dead. The choreographer Snider lets in on the revolutionary new exotic dance format, Emmy-winning pro- ducer Nick De Noia, is portrayed by "The White Lotus" star Murray Bartlett, whose character is yet again doomed from the start in "Welcome to Chippendales." The miniseries is based on the true events documented in the book "Deadly Dance: The Chippen- dales Murders," by K. Scot Mac- donald and Patrick MontesDeOca, so for those who have yet to read the book or old news releases, please beware of spoilers ahead. After several tenuous years as business partners, with De Noia handling the company's touring performances and Banerjee fum- ing over the legally binding cock- tail napkin contract they signed, De Noia is killed in his New York City office in 1987. Given the nature of their relationship, Banerjee is high on the suspect list. It won't be long, however, until tragedy strikes nearly every person involved in the early Chippendales days, leaving devastation that has had true crime fanatics' eyeballs glued to the story for decades. There is so much more to the story than the business dealings between Banerjee, Snider and De Noia, and the rest of the cast fill- ing in the "Welcome to Chippen- dales" tale is packed with Holly- wood star power. Annaleigh Ash- ford ("American Crime Story: Im- peachment") plays Banerjee's wife, Irene; Juliette Lewis ("Yel- lowjackets") stars as passionate Chippendales patron Denise; Quentin Plair ("Roswell, New Mexico") takes on the role of Chippendales dancer Otis; stage and screen star Andrew Rannells ("Black Monday") portrays a club investor; Robin de Jesus ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") is Banerjee's accomplice, Ray Colon; and Nicola Peltz Beckham ("Bates Motel") stars as Playboy model and actress Dorothy Stratten. Nanjiani's portrayal of Baner- jee, however, is one of the big- gest draws to the series thus far, as it's a far cry from his usual rep- ertoire of the quirky, funny guy (such as Dinesh in "Silicon Val- ley" and Jibran in 2020's "The Lovebirds"). This switch in char- acter even necessitated a change of posture that gave Nanjiani a constant reminder of the serious, unsatisfied character he had to become during filming. In an interview with E! Online, Nanjiani said he developed a knot in his shoulder while embodying Banerjee onscreen and decided, "That's where Steve lives. I can't get rid of this knot until I wrap." Later in the interview, Nanjiani notes his Banerjee has a "certain kind of masculinity" that presents in "aggressive, even violent ways ... if you're not processing your sadness or your fear." He also added that his take on the Chip- pendales founder is "a guy who was completely cut off from his inner life, from his emotions. He's very scared of what he is and he doesn't like himself." In contrast to Banerjee's insecu- rities, Bartlett told E! that his take on De Noia has an easy confidence that his business partner lacks. "I think it's a little infuriating to Steve [Banerjee] because he's really disconnected from his body," Bartlett said. "You can see he's very stiff, whereas Nick [De Noia] is very fluid and comfort- able with movement." Those more removed from the true crime sphere may even find this story familiar. The tragedies that followed those at the top of the Chippendales empire have been entertainment fodder since they were first reported. Takes on the events were adapted into the 2000 TV movie "The Chippendales Murder," featuring "The Dropout" star Naveen Andrews as Banerjee. More recently, the podcast "Wel- come to Your Fantasy" detailed the rise and fall of the empire. What drew "Welcome to Chip- pendales" writer and creator Rob- ert Siegel ("The Wrestler," 2008) to the tale wasn't that an adapta- tion was lacking, but that there was still more ground to till. With the recent Hulu hit "Pam & Tommy" under his belt, Siegel has become motivated to take on more real-life stories, and he was quickly taken with Banerjee's story. "It hit a lot of my pleasure but- tons," Siegel told Vanity Fair. "It felt like 'Scarface' or 'Goodfellas' or 'Boogie Nights.' ... It's bad peo- ple doing bad things. But what dif - ferentiates it from another wan- nabe Martin Scorsese movie is that you take out Tony Montana and put in this nerdy, socially awk- ward Indian immigrant." Don't miss the first two epi- sodes of "Welcome to Chippen- dales" when they premiere Tuesday, Nov. 22, on Hulu. Murray Bartlett in "Welcome to Chippendales" It's raining men: Drama miniseries 'Welcome to Chippendales' takes viewers backstage 2 | Cover story Grindstone Charlie's 1 x 4" Moore's Home Health 5 x 2"

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