‘Scarpetta’ Creator Liz Sarnoff On Centering Women On The Silver Screen

You may have binged the new drama series Scarpetta starring Nicole Kidman this month, the latest series from nine-time Emmy-nominated television writer Liz Sarnoff. As a driving force and executive producer behind series like Lost, Barry, and Highland, Sarnoff is back in a show running seat after also co-creating Alcatraz.

I recently interviewed Sarnoff to learn about her newest story set on the silver screen, Scarpetta, which features Kidman leading alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, based on the bestselling novel series by Patricia Cornwell. We spoke about why it’s so important for Sarnoff to center women in crime dramas with agency rather than as victims, and her experience as a woman navigating the closed doors of Hollywood to tell stories she’s passionate about.

Scarpetta Started As A Passion And Turned Into Purpose

With an impressive list of stories she’s helped to tell, Scarpetta on Amazon Prime is only the latest on a long list of titles Sarnoff has worked on during her decades-long career in Hollywood. She described reading nearly all the books with her mom in the ‘90s. “We loved Kay Scarpetta – she was lady boss before that was a thing – in charge of a whole government agency, a doctor who had a law degree and yet she still held true to her beliefs without sacrificing any of her humanity or the things that made her uniquely a woman,” Sarnoff said.

In case you haven’t seen the series or read the books, they follow Kay Scarpetta, a chief medical examiner in Virginia portrayed by Kidman – a bit cold but professional as she investigates a gruesome murder of a woman, which reminds her of a past case that still haunts her. “Kay loved deeply, she mothered her niece, she cooked, she gardened and also she solved crimes through autopsies and always spoke truth to power. It was a delicious combination,” continued Sarnoff.

The Significance Of Centering Women With Agency

For decades and even now, when we see women in crime dramas or thrillers, they tend to take on the roles of ancillary characters or plot devices, or most commonly, victims of grisly crimes. By contrast, in Scarpetta, the female lead is in a position of agency, investigating murders and tracking down a serial killer.

This distinction was important to Sarnoff when the opportunity to adapt the book series for TV came across her desk.

“I think in all stories it’s important that women have positions of agency. Women need encouragement to know we are in charge of ourselves and that our lives matter,” she told me. “For so long a woman’s role in storytelling was to react off of what was happening to the men in the story. Period. Support characters aiding the arc of the male characters (usually considered to be the heroes) in their journey towards redemption, victory or self-actualization,” she explained.

“So it’s wildly important to show women on these journeys – not as adjunct to a male character, but taking the ride and discovering themselves.”

Navigating The Closed Doors Of Hollywood

This motif has shaped Sarnoff’s long career as a woman in Hollywood as well, throughout the formative years culminating in the Me Too movement. Sarnoff describes often being the only woman writer in a room of men, or having to fight for and advocate for women’s stories when she was told plainly that no one cares to see women as a main character.

“It’s tough being the only ‘anything’ in a room/workplace. It makes you extremely self-conscious to speak your truth,” she said. “I worked in many rooms full of men and I always tried to be a voice for the female characters of the show, to make sure that their actions were in service to their own wants and desires and not just a tool to help aid a male arc.”

“But when you’re in the minority, you can feel the resistance coming at you like it’s a physical thing; a force field. And it makes you feel very exposed, very shy to speak out – especially if you are repeatedly told, ‘It’s not her story.’ It takes a lot of strength and endurance to keep going at it,” she recounted.

I asked Sarnoff if there were any incidents during her career as a TV writer that stand out. “I remember once, on one of my first jobs, the show runner complained to me and the one other female writer that we didn’t bother to dress up for the writer’s room. I told him emphatically that I was wearing a hundred dollar t-shirt,” she recalled.

Seeing What You Want To Be In Hollywood and Beyond

I also spoke to Sarnoff about the impact of women’s representation on the silver screen, in roles of power, strength, vulnerability and transformation – the hero’s arc. For her, the importance of visibility is paramount.

“The power of seeing yourself represented in a story is like no other transformative experience. As a woman and a gay woman it was a long time coming in my lifetime before I saw anyone that remotely resembled me on screen,” she shared with me.

“It took me a long time to understand that what was unique about me was my story and then it took me a real long time to have the courage to start telling it,” Sarnoff said.

“And it was thrilling. I exist. I am in the world. I am worthy of the main story. My story matters.”

I asked Sarnoff what she would say to aspiring women storytellers who are struggling to find their voice, or the platform to share it on. Here’s her advice:

“I’d say the important part of being a writer is the writing. And you have to be rigorous about it. Because there are a lot of little devils that can dance in your head if you’re just thinking about it and not doing it – so you need to be devoted to the actual writing and do it with great regularity,” she advised.

Sarnoff told me about her mentor David Milch, the TV writer and producer behind ABC’s NYPD Blue and HBO’s Deadwood. Every day, David sat down every day in front of his computer to write – regardless of whether he wanted to or not, he showed up and built a habit and discipline out of his craft. That has greatly impacted Sarnoff’s own approach to her work.

“Show up. Even and especially when you really don’t want to. [David] used to say, ‘Visions come to prepared spirits – but the muse needs to know where to find you,” she said.

“It’s important to remember that talking about writing is not writing. I try not to be devoted to anything but the actual writing itself. If you write every day, if you show up… you will find your voice.”