Simon Baker is a self-confessed TV snob, and it took Scarpetta to lure him back to American TV Simon Baker is a self-confessed TV snob, and it took Scarpetta to lure him back to American TV This third era of Simon Baker’s career has been the most interesting, and it took something extra for him to return to American TV. After Simon Baker filmed a role in Taika Waititi’s next film, Klara and the Sun, he got a call that no actor wants to get. His role had been cut. “Taika sent me a text and he called me, and in his way, it was very witty and beautiful,” Baker tells The Nightly. “I remember sitting there going, ‘Wow, I’m so glad this happened to me in my 50s when I can have a laugh about it’.” “As opposed to maybe in my 20s, when it would have just crushed me. I would’ve thought, ‘I’m not that good, I’m terrible’.” Baker is not the same man that after his first act as a dreamy local soap star in E Street, Home and Away and Heartbreak High, chased his dream to Hollywood, where he would breakthrough in L.A. Confidential before film roles in the likes of The Devil Wears Prada and then a long-running stint as the lead of crime procedural The Mentalist. There are distinct chapters to Baker’s career, and it was this third era, the post-Mentalist years that have been the most interesting to watch. Baker has always had a commanding but effortless screen presence but perhaps his dramatic chops had been overlooked because of his, well, for lack of a better-term, his movie-star good looks. It’s easy enough to be distracted by the tussle of the blonde hair and the charming smile that extends to the corners of his blue-green eyes. After The Mentalist wrapped in 2015, he came home to Australia because he wanted to do something different, something more. “That show I did in the States went for seven seasons.#nicole_kidman #liz_sarnoff #simon_baker #taika_waititi #klara_and_the_sun
Simon Baker stars in the new series 'Scarpetta' Simon Baker brings his signature charm to Amazon Prime’s new series Scarpetta, playing FBI criminal profiler Benton Wesley. The character, described as “very polite” but with an underlying sense of danger, mirrors Baker’s own measured demeanor in real life. During a recent interview at a Bondi Beach hotel, Baker, 56, showcased his signature blue attire and a striking IWC Schaffhausen watch, reflecting the same calm confidence he channels for Wesley. Despite the character’s quiet nature, Baker notes that the role’s subtlety was a key draw. “The character was the primary thing that drove me,” he says. “It’s sort of a very quiet character in amongst a lot of quite big forward characters.” Adapted from Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling book series, Scarpetta follows the complex relationship between Wesley and his wife, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, portrayed by Nicole Kidman. Both characters are driven by their work and their bond, though their marriage is portrayed as a delicate balance of love and tension. Baker highlights the dynamic between the couple and the Scarpetta family, particularly the bickering between Kidman’s character and Jamie Lee Curtis’s sisterly rival. “The Scarpetta family, they’re Italian and everything is really expressive,” he says. “That’s a dynamic on its own, seeing Nicole and Jamie Lee go at it as bickering sisters.” The series weaves humor into its darker narrative, a contrast that might surprise fans of the source material. While the show maintains the tension of Cornwell’s novels, it adopts a tone reminiscent of The Bear, with sharp dialogue and banter between Kidman and Curtis. The plot spans two timelines, beginning with Dr.#nicole_kidman #jamie_lee_curtis #scarpetta #simon_baker #amazon_prime
Scarpetta Review: Nicole Kidman Stars in Queasy Adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's Books Nicole Kidman stars as Kay Scarpetta, the titular medical examiner from Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling novels, in a television adaptation that blends forensic drama with domestic turmoil. The series, which premiered in March 2026, follows the character’s journey across two timelines, weaving together her present-day investigations with flashbacks to her early career. Kidman portrays the seasoned forensic pathologist returning to her Virginia roots after years in Boston, where she resumes her role as the state’s Chief Medical Examiner. The narrative alternates between her current case and a 1990s storyline featuring a younger Scarpetta, played by Rosy McEwen, who grapples with a mysterious murder that resurfaces decades later. The show’s structure, designed for binge-watching, splits the plot into eight episodes, each balancing procedural elements with personal drama. While the forensic aspects—such as graphic autopsy scenes and crime-solving—form the core of the series, critics argue that the domestic conflicts of Scarpetta’s family overshadow these elements. Her workplace, where she navigates tensions with her boss, the health commissioner (Lenny Clarke), is depicted as a secondary battleground compared to her fraught home life. There, she resides in a plantation-style estate with her emotionally distant FBI profiler husband, Benton (Simon Baker), whose relationship with his wife is strained by her overbearing sister, Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis). Dorothy’s constant criticism of Kay, along with her own marital issues and interactions with her ex-husband Pete (Bobby Cannavale) and daughter Lucy (Ariana DeBose), adds layers of interpersonal drama that some viewers find overwhelming.#nicole_kidman #rosy_mcewen #patricia_cornwell #lenny_clarke #simon_baker
