Melvin Gregg plays Ben Chandler on Hulu's limited series "Nine Perfect Strangers ."- The actor said an intense scene between Ben, Jessica, and Masha didn't make the final cut.
- "It was a big therapy session where we had to face each other," he told Insider.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for
In an attempt to salvage what's left of their marriage, Ben Chandler and Jessica Chandler shell out thousands of dollars for a 10-day getaway at a boutique wellness retreat called Tranquillum House on "Nine Perfect Strangers."
After winning $22 million in the lottery, the couple (played by Melvin Gregg and Samara Weaving) learns that with their vast fortune comes vast change, both in how they see themselves and each other. Jessica becomes consumed by her image and obsessed with the way others perceive her, while Ben's insecurities lead him to push his wife away.
Masha, the head of Tranquillum House (played by Nicole Kidman), plans to get the couple to open back up to each other by dosing them with MDMA, a drug colloquially known as ecstasy. But according to Gregg, Ben and Jessica's major breakthrough didn't make the series' final cut.
"We had a big scene with Masha," he told Insider while discussing the Hulu adaptation of Liane Moriarty's 2018 novel, continuing, "It was a big therapy session where we had to face each other."
"We couldn't run from each other. I couldn't look away. She couldn't hide in her phone. We had to lay it all out, look at ourselves in the mirror, and look at each other and come to terms with who we were and where we were," he said, adding, "That was a big scene."
Viewers don't get a chance to watch Ben and Jessica's therapy session on the David E. Kelley series, but they do witness the couple finally discuss their feelings for each other on episode seven, "Wheels on the Bus."
While soaking in a pond with his wife, Ben says he's been wondering whether or not she would be happier without him.
"A lot of the times people really don't really know what it is they want. They might think they want a new house, new car, but what they actually want is just different," he tells her. "We think it's because of the money, or all the shit that comes with it, but maybe it's something else. Maybe it's me."
Jessica, startled at the conversation's suddenly serious turn, asks how he could think she would want to be with anyone else.
He continues, "You're not happy in the place that you're at. I'm in that place, so I don't know. Maybe it's me."
"You're so wrong," she responds with a smile.
The couple decides to renew their wedding vows, dedicated to embarking on a new chapter after they leave Tranquillum House.
Though the two young lottery winners have their share of issues, Gregg is confident that Jessica and Ben's marriage is worth saving.
"They were the ones who chose one another when they had nothing, which says a lot," the actor told Insider.
The key to getting back to a healthy relationship for Jessica and Ben, in his opinion, is viewing the money in their bank account as "icing on the cake" rather than a defining factor in their lives.
"Once they find one another again, they're going to continue to grow and get back to their place where they were before," he said, adding, "When they were happy."
"Nine Perfect Strangers" is currently streaming on Hulu.