In Prime Video’s Expats, Hillary, played by Sarayu Blue (I Feel Bad, No Tomorrow), covers her tumultuous life with a veneer of control and organization. A number of artisans behind the scenes spoke with Variety about their artistic choices regarding the character.
According to Variety, costume designer Malgosia Turzanska (The Green Knight, Pearl) used muted colors, which she said were “aggressive neutrals” for Hillary’s wardrobe. The clothes work as a way to ensure that Hillary maintains a low profile. “She is an incredibly strong, powerful woman. But she’s also an incredibly hurt woman, and that goes back to her childhood,” she says.
She touched further on Hillary’s specific outfit during a dinner scene, which was designed to reflect her inner pain. “It looks like a sling, and it looks like she’s bandaged,” says Turzanska. “She’s pushing through because she doesn’t want to be at that dinner, and she doesn’t want to see those people. She has other things on her mind.” Later that night, however, Hillary dutches this outfit for a red dress as she goes to meet her husband, only to discover she has cheated on him. “It’s a metaphor for this open wound,” Turzanska said. “It was this idea of showing that she’s hurting and willing to work on their marriage, hoping that he is going to agree and keep working on their relationship, but it doesn’t go so well.”
Series cinematographer Anna Franquesa-Solano (The Farewell, Venus By Water) told Variety that she made a point of “composed and balanced” framing. According to her, Hillary, Margret and Mercy “are trying to control their surroundings because they feel like they are not in control. It’s an attempt to not let go because, if not, they’ll fall apart. Hilary is constantly doing that by trying to always be perfect and keep things in place. So her color palette is perfect. Her makeup and her wardrobe match the tone of the walls.”
As Variety reports, director and executive producer Lulu Wang (The Farewell, Touch) said, to her, Hilary is the most relatable character in Expacts because she reflects how a community judges a person. “She’s trapped by that,” says Wang. “These are values that have been handed down by her family and women in general, and that’s why we’re so hard on ourselves. She’s just trying to keep it together.”