Beautiful liars are splendid company

As a sleek drama debuts on ABC, it offers a concept that has spanned decades and continents.
“I was compelled at first by the idea of two professional liars who see one another’s truths,” said Julia Cohen, a producer of ABC’s “The Company You Keep.” These two (shown here) are smart, sexy and – they don’t realize – on opposite sides of the law.
That’s the notion that propelled the Korean series this is based on. It also was behind an American tale that writer Elmore Leonard created decades ago.
Now the “Company” opener gets a big push — 10 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 19), after the “American Idol” opener, then rerunning at 10 p.m. the following Thursday, after the return of “Grey’s Anatomy.” It also offers some starpower, with former “This Is Us” star Milo Ventimiglia.
“This one rose to the top very fast,” Ventimiglia said. It “was about two weeks from when I stepped off the set of ‘This Is Us’ and stepped on the set with our pilot.”
He plays Charlie, a con man; Catherine Haena Kim plays Emma, a CIA agent. Both cling to secrets.
“Lies make the world go round, in a way,” said Phil Klemmer, who created the American version with Cohen. “When it comes to dating somebody and presenting your best self, sometimes you’re lying (or) presenting the version of yourself that you want to be.”
Which is sort of the notion the late Leonard had. In 1996, he wrote “Karen Makes Out,” a popular short story abut two beautiful strangers – a cop and a crook – anonymously meeting at a bar. Later, the Karen Sisco character was played by Jennifer Lopez in a 1998 movie and Carla Gugino in a 2003 series.
Now the Korean series has covered similar ground, and is a neat fit for Kim.
A first-generation American, she’s been studying the language of her parents and grandparents. She’s had recurring roles in several series – “Mistresses,” “FBI,” “Good Trouble” – but she was also a VJ for MTV’s Korean American channel.
“During the pandemic … I really wanted to learn how to read and write Korean better,” she said. Now “I’m obsessed with Korean dramas. I watch them all the time with my mom. So this is the one that I started watching when we started the audition process.”
As the two characters lie about their careers, Emma even jokes that she was a beauty queen. As it happens, Kim was Miss Virginia United States, chosen Miss Photogenic nationally.
“That line was written before (she was) even cast,” Cohen said, “proof we found the right actress.”
Now these two beautiful strangers meet, flirt and lie.
“Instead of doing the ‘will they? Won’t they?’” Klemmer said, “they do. Immediately. For 36 hours. And then it’s just a question …. How do you make a life out of this, after that white-hot passion?”