DIRECTV customers would have likely already seen this series, since the provider picked it up and broadcast it on its Audience Network (Channel 239, included at no extra charge with any DIRECTV package) in February 2012:.
Now those with Netflix streaming accounts who are interested in checking out the mini-series, can now do so, as it’s become available on that platform as of this week.
Titled "The Slap," the Australian TV 8-part mini-series, which co-stars Sophie Okonedo is based on the award-winning novel by Christos Tsiolkas, which traces the shattering repercussions of a single event on a group of family and friends. At an Australian backyard barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his son. The boy’s parents are so affronted by the assault that they call the police and legal action results, as questions of parenting, the rights of children, race, class, sexuality and the different perspectives of men and women are tackled.
Sophie Okonedo plays "Aisha," and here’s how ABC Australia’s website describes her:
The slap took place at Aisha’s house, during her party for her husband’s 40th birthday. Hugo, the child who was slapped, is the son of one of her best friends, Rosie. On the other hand, Harry, the man who slapped Hugo, is her brother-in-law. She has her own reasons for siding with Rosie, which go far deeper than the slap itself, and threaten to unravel her family. Aisha is married to Hector. She is a woman whose resilience and strength holds her family together. She also is a successful professional woman with her own veterinary business. Entering her forties, she is assailed by doubts about her marriage and future. The slap at the barbecue has left her torn, her loyalties divided between her husband and one of her oldest friends. She fights for what is important to her, but feels like she is losing her grip.
Okonedo co-stars in the mini-series alongside acclaimed thespians in Melissa George, Jonathan LaPaglia, Essie David, Alex Dimitriades, and Anthony Hayes.
The series was nominated for a BAFTA for Best International Program and won 5 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television awards, including Best Miniseries.
NBC, here in the USA, is developing an American adaptation of the Australian miniseries, with "Brothers & Sisters" creator Jon Robin Baitz, writing the teleplay. And today brings word that Thandie Newton has been cast in what will be an eight-episode miniseries, which and Melissa George has also been cast in, alongside Peter Sarsgaard, Mary-Louise Parker, Zachary Quinto and Brian Cox.
Newton will play the role Okonedo originated in the Australian miniseires – Aisha, Hector’s (Sarsgaard’s) wife.
So the question of whether the NBC version would follow the casting of the original has been answered – specifically, casting a black woman in the role played by Okonedo.
In the videos that follow below, first watch Sophie discuss her role in the series; and second, watch the series trailer underneath. And if you have a Netflix account, check out the original series, which is also streaming on the platform, giving you a glimpse of what’s coming: