‘The Residence’ Team on Casting Kylie Minogue, Honoring the Late Andre Braugher and How ‘Knives Out’ Rescucitated the Whodunit Genre

variety.com:

Abigail Lee The new Shondaland murder mystery series “The Residence” shares some DNA with another Netflix whodunit: Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” film. “It resuscitated the genre,” showrunner Paul William Davies told Variety at “The Residence” premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday, revealing that Johnson’s film was a “hugely important” guidepost for his show in the way that it drew inspiration from 1970s whodunits. “He played around with the history,” Davies explained. “That really opened the door for a lot of us to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, we can do that again.'” “The Residence,” which is now streaming on Netflix, stars Uzo Aduba as the wildly eccentric detective (and legendary birder) Cordelia Cupp, who is tasked with solving a murder that takes place during a White House state dinner.

In creating the screwball comedy — which features a sprawling cast that includes Susan Kelechi Watson, Randall Park and Ken Marino — Davies pulled inspiration from the murder mystery ensembles of “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express,” as well as “Clue” and “The Last of Sheila.” He was also influenced by the sitcom “Fawlty Towers” and the play “Noises Off,” which had a “theatricality” and farce he liked. “The Residence” also features some unexpected appearances, like comedian and former senator Al Franken playing a fictional politician and Kylie Minogue … playing Kylie Minogue. “We were really excited when we actually got Kylie Minogue because we kept referring to Kylie Minogue,” said executive producer Betsy Beers, as her Shondaland counterpart Shonda Rhimes chimed in: “But we didn’t know if it was gonna happen.” So, how did the team manage to get the pop idol on board? “We approached her.