We knew when Shondaland entered the White House with an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery that we were in for a wild ride and Netflix’s The Residence certainly has delivered.
If you haven’t delved into the series yet, a quick recap: The US President is hosting a State Dinner for the Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister at the White House when a member of the household staff is found dead in the residence.
Super sleuth Cordelia Cupp, played brilliantly by Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba, is brought in to investigate, and immediately insists no one can leave the White House – not even Kylie Minogue who was roped into performing at the last minute with the promise of being able to stay the night in the Lincoln Bedroom. (Kylie is an absolute hoot playing herself, please give her an Emmy.)
There are plenty of fun jokes about Aussies in the show, but the funny thing is Kylie Minogue has a real-life connection to Julian McMahon who plays the Australian Prime Minister in the series – he was married to her sister Dannii Minogue in the mid ‘90s. The pair met on the set of Home and Away and he even appeared in Dannii’s ‘This Is It’ music video.
Now, things get even wilder. Julian McMahon’s dad actually was Prime Minister of Australia – Sir William McMahon was in the top job from 1971 to 1972.
On November 3, 1971, PM McMahon and his wife Sonia attended a State Dinner hosted by US President Richard Nixon at the White House. This State Dinner caused a drama of its own thanks to Mrs Mahon’s iconic dress. The long white column dress with cut-outs and thigh-high slits made international headlines at the time.
“You had to wear so many long frocks to dinners all the time in those days, just one after the other, in all sorts of countries. And I was just sick of the normal frilly, frothy things,” she said at the time.
So risqué we love it! No other First Lady has dared to come even close to her sartorial status since.
In a real testament to what an absolute style queen Lady McMahon was, in 2005 she accompanied her actor son Julian on the red carpet of the Golden Globes – wearing a replica of her iconic White House dress! Jonathan Ward designed the replica based on Victoria Cascajo’s original, which is now in the Powerhouse Collection.
Where to watch The Residence
Eight-part series The Residence is only available on Netflix.
The Shondaland production has a pretty stacked line-up for TV fans. Randall Park plays Detective Cupp’s sidekick. Bronson Pinchot is disgruntled pastry chef Didier Gothard. Scrubs star Eliza Coupe is a sassy senator. Jason Lee plays the President’s dropkick brother. Ken Marino as Harry Hollinger brings back memories of his time as a dodgy private investigator on Veronica Mars. Molly Griggs plays the bumbling social secretary Lily. And Brett Tucker shines as the horny Australian Foreign Minister.
