It was meant to be Kim Kardashian’s triumphant debut as a leading actor – but last year’s legal drama All’s Fair was so universally panned by critics that it actually broke streaming records as audiences clambered to see what all the fuss was about.
Kardashian, who is best known as a media personality and businesswoman, tells the BBC she had no choice but to “lean into” the discourse and come back for a second series.
“We thought we were this law show, dealing with some really serious issues,” she jokes.
But viewers mostly enjoyed its comedy value – with outlandish outfits and zingy one-liners from co-stars Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close sending the show straight into the pantheon of ‘camp classics’.
‘What choice do you have when you’re getting criticised?’
“We’re a full comedy now,” the 46-year-old admits, adding: “The beauty in producing a show with writers that are really tuned in to pop culture is they can see what the response is and write accordingly to that.”
All’s Fair, which was created by American Horror Story and Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy, became the Hulu network’s most-watched scripted series debut of the last three years and was immediately renewed.
Following a group of divorce lawyers – played by Kardashian, Close, Paulson, Naomi Watts and Niecy Nash-Betts – the show was panned for bad acting, with Kardashian bearing the brunt of criticism.
The Hollywood Reporter called her “wooden”, and the Times declared that the show “may be the worst TV drama ever”.
But the hallmark of Kardashian’s career has been her ability to back herself – whether that’s going from years of being snubbed by Met Gala organisers to becoming its most anticipated guest, or overcoming backlash to the launch of her shapewear company to turn it into a $5bn (£3.7bn) brand.
Kardashian says: “What is the alternative, right? What is the other choice that you have when you’re getting criticised?
“Do you just fall in and feel that, or keep your head down and try better, try harder and try a different path?”
Having been in the spotlight for more than 20 years, she’s “always had a really good sense of my mental health”, and says that comes from being able to “brush off” those who seek to bring her down.
“I always do things that are tough because I genuinely want to learn,” Kardashian says.
Disney
While she was promoting the legal drama last year, Kardashian was waiting to find out if she had passed exams to become a lawyer in real life, after six years of studying for an apprenticeship that negated the need for a university degree.
Shortly after the first series aired, she found out she had failed the exam – but says that won’t be the end of her pursuit of the qualification.
“If I don’t pass something, if I don’t do the best at something, then I’ll get there,” she says. “I don’t worry. I just have to keep going.”
But after her admission that she had used AI for legal advice, she does say she will change how public she is about her studies.
“I’m going to be a little more quiet about my journey until I get there,” says Kardashian, who has four children with rapper Kanye West and is now in a relationship with British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.
“I know there was a lot of talk out there like, ‘she’s given up’, and that’s funny to me.
“I like people to think what they want to think and I’ll take it again and let you guys know once I’ve passed. I’ll be very vocal about that,” she says.
‘A realistic depiction of a lot of women’
Disney
Audiences have only been given a glimpse of what to expect from the second series of All’s Fair so far.
Co-star Watts, who also serves as a producer on the show alongside Kardashian, says they have “doubled down” on “the high fashion, high drama and heightened reality” that audiences enjoyed the first time around.
As for Kardashian’s acting, Watts says she’s on a “trajectory” that sees her “stepping up in the second season”.
“She was improvising, riffing, doing all kind of things that I thought were deeply impressive,” Watts adds, to which Kardashian jokes: “I think I’m just naturally so funny.”
One of the positives that critics did cite was the show’s desire to spotlight the duality of professional women who were both feminine and successful, which Kardashian says she “loves” because it is “a really realistic depiction of a lot of women I know”.
“It doesn’t mean that just because you’re super smart that you can’t be fashionable and into glamorous things as well,” she adds.
