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Netflix‘s limited series The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window included nudity, sex scenes, murder, and alcohol. Kristen Bell stars as the leading character named Anna. The suburban painter goes through a rough patch and relies heavily on bottles of wine to get through the day, especially when she sees a murder. But did Kristen Bell really drink that much wine on The Woman in the House or was it an on-screen trick?

Kristen Bell and wine in 'The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window' pouring a glass in kitchen.
Kristen Bell and wine in ‘The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window’ | via Netflix

What leads Anna to consume bottles of wine in ‘The Woman in the House’

The limited series is a satire of commonly seen crime and murder stories with a female lead character. In The Woman in the House, Anna was and is a gifted painter who loses her spark for life after her husband leaves her. Her tragedy and shift in mindset correlated to the horrific events involving her daughter Elizabeth.

Dealing with ombrophobia, a fear of the rain, she becomes a homebody. Anna would rather sit in her favorite chair and snoop on the neighborhood. Her favorite drink? A filled to the brim glass of red wine. In The Woman in the House, audiences see her heavy reliance on wine bordering being an alcoholic.

Anna has boxes of stored wine in her closet and clears one to two bottles of wine a day. Audiences even see her kitchen counter with a bowl overflowing with cork screws. When she witnesses a possible murder across the street, her trauma and love for wine make her an unreliable source.

Kristen Bell admits she did not drink wine while filming ‘The Woman in the House’

In an interview with E! News, Bell gives behind-the-scenes details of filming The Woman in the House. While her characters Anna had a deep love for red wine, Bell admits she did not drink any while filming. With a straight face, Bell joked, “I didn’t slip in anything real, because I was already coming to work pretty drunk.”

When it comes to actors drinking alcohol for a scene, there are many tricks to make it look genuine without using the real deal. For The Woman in the House, Bell said she initially drank grape juice on the first day to mimic the red wine.

Using heaps amount of grape juice was not an ideal choice. “I put the kibosh on that right quick because I was just having a complete sugar crash after the first scene,” said Bell. Instead, the actor drank hibiscus tea.

Bell explains there was one downside to drinking the tart tea on set of The Woman in the House. Drinking bottles and full glasses of tea led Bell to “pee all day every day.” 

Will there be a ‘The Woman in the House’ Season 2?

The finale of The Woman in the House leaves a lot to be explored as it ended on a cliffhanger. After the tumultuous and stressful events that Anna goes through in The Woman in the House, many would assume she quits drinking wine. That is not the case. Instead of learning from her mistakes, Anna moves on but instead changes her tune to vodka.

Her old habits come to bite her when she believes she is entangled in a new murder mystery. But will The Woman in the House return for a season 2 with Bell? There is no official announcement of a new installment from the actors or creators. The Netflix series was tagged as a limited series and could stay that way.

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