ANAHEIM, Calif. — In “The Better Sister,” Kim Dickens and Bobby Naderi play detectives investigating a high-profile murder case on Long Island, the kind of roles where the chemistry of their partnership is important to their work as both actors and characters in the new Prime Video series.

Should be easy, right? After all, they worked together on “Fear the Walking Dead,” right?

“Apparently, we did,” Dickens says, prompting laughter from both on a recent video call. “He was like, ‘First episode, it was in Vancouver.”

“I did two episodes, actually,” he adds.

You’re old friends then?

“So he says,” Dickens says.

“Someone fact-check it,” Naderi adds as both laugh again.

Regardless of how they entered the series, which stars Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks as estranged sisters brought back together by the murder, it’s clear Dickens and Naderi have great chemistry now, both on screen and off.

“The Better Sister,” based on the novel by Alafair Burke, with Biel as Chloe, the successful younger sibling, married to Adam (Corey Stoll) and mother to Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan), her life seems perfect until Adam turns up dead, with suspicion soon falling on his family.

As detectives Nan Guidry and Matt Bowen, played by Dickens and Naderi, dig into the investigation, Nicky, the older, troubled sister, played by Banks, shows up at Chloe’s fancy Manhattan apartment to help her younger sibling, no matter how little Chloe wants her help.

The limited series debuted on Prime Video on Thursday, May 29.

In a joint interview edited for length and clarity, Dickens and Naderi talked about the appeal of “The Better Sister,” what it was like working with Biel and Banks, their favorite TV police partners of the past, and more.

Q: What made you think this was a good project for each of you?

Kim Dickens: Well, first of all, when you see the names of [showrunners] Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado and you’re me, you’re like, “Absolutely.” That’s my old dancing partners from “Deadwood.” [Dickens played brothelkeeper Joannie Stubbs on the HBO Western.] It was a beautiful script. The writing was just impeccable. The characters were all strong and layered and complicated, and sometimes unlikable and messy.

The story, the plot, was very compelling to me. I loved the Guidry character from the start. I thought she was just kind of cocky and confident. Really loves the hunt. Dogs the sisters. Is irreverent at times, has a little humor to her and basically loves her job and her colleagues. It seemed like a really fun job.

Q: And you, Bobby?

Bobby Naderi: For me, it started with the material, and then you kind of discover as you go who’s involved. I thought it was such a fresh look on the murder mystery thriller. Every character has a purpose. Every character has an arc. And yeah, it was just really fun to be involved in it, and hopefully, audiences will connect with it as well.

Q: You’ve both played detectives or FBI agents in the past. How do you create that kind of role and create a partnership with each other?

Dickens: Building the character, well, it’s sort of different all the time. It’s like what you connect to instinctually. For me, I know Regina and Olivia thought of me for this, so I was sort of in step with it, with the dialogue, and it sort of fit me.

What’s happened to Guidry before was something I started with. It’s not on the page until later, but I made sure to carry that into every scene. The togetherness, it’s a testament to the producers and showrunners and casting because we didn’t do a chemistry read. We didn’t even rehearse. [Executive producer and director] Craig Gillespie said, ‘Just show up.’ I think he knew he had the right people for this.

Naderi: For me, it was the material, and then just my experience playing an FBI agent. I’ve spent hours with real FBI people. With this one, the writing was so rich and the characters were so well thought-out, I just delved into it, tried to find what I’m connected with Matt and build from that.

You just kind of follow your instincts and then let surprises happen.

Q: The heart of the story is the relationship between the sisters Chloe and Nicky. How did that, and having Jessica and Elizabeth to play them, add fresh twists to the mystery?

Naderi: I think the dynamics are irregular. It was also creating more options for what’s going on while trying to figure out the family dynamics. We were getting new information from the characters all the time, so it was really fun to explore that.

Dickens: Yeah, I think the sister relationship was very fractured and volatile, yet there’s a primitive, primal love there. But a lot of that is with contentiousness. That relationship alone, I thought was so relatable as an audience member. And the performances that Jessica and Elizabeth deliver are just powerhouse, gutsy, messy, messy portrayals. It was inspiring to see.

Q: Guidry goes at people pretty hard. Bowen is entirely sure her techniques are best. Talk about that dynamic between the two of you?

Dickens: It’s really fun to play. I mean, I’m not really like that personally, so it was fun to play someone with that swagger and that confidence in their talent, and also that enjoyment in their job.

I think she’s very good at her job, and I think she smells a rat and goes after those sisters to see, What am I missing here? She’s a surrogate for the audience where she calls the rich “entitled.” That’s a fun thing to do.

Q: We see Bobby reacting to what the sisters are doing, but also how he responds to Guidry’s actions.

Naderi: I think he understands her approach, but he believes as a character that people open up more and leave more clues if they don’t feel threatened. That’s the different approach. When he’s not with Nan, he’s different in the way he approaches someone.

It was in the writing that when you’re with certain friends you behave a certain way. And when he’s not with his senior partner, it’s almost like he takes a little bit from that in his approach.

Q: Those differences come through when they’re each looking at Ethan as a possible suspect.

Dickens: I think Nan knows, Hey, I’m just gonna shoot from the cuff.

Naderi: There are times when [Bowen] is softer. When he’s alone, he has more freedom. There’s not someone telling me, hey, don’t do this, don’t do that. I’m like, let me figure it out, trial and error.

Q: We talked about cop chemistry earlier. I’m curious what your memories of other police partnerships you’ve seen on TV.

Dickens: I’m glad I didn’t think about it too much when we went into this, because I would have felt the pressure to measure. You’re right. When I thought about watching things, I rely on them and their chemistry. I really enjoy all the “Law & Order” franchise and those performances.

I actually didn’t watch “Cagney and Lacy” but I’ve seen parts of their performances and know how incredible it is. I remember really liking “Moonlighting,” which was different, much more comedy. But that was an impressive team.

Naderi: Definitely in the subconscious, it’s there. I guess the last one that I remember that had an effect on me was “True Detective,” Season 1, with their wild relationship.

Q: One of you said earlier that all the characters here have their own narrative arcs and change over the course of the show. How do you see the journey your characters went on?

Dickens: I think Detective Guidry comes at it with her confidence and intelligence and talent as a detective. And she makes a strong decision early on, and then has to pivot from that. At that pivot, she meets someone who kind of holds up a mirror to her, in that those characters, Nicky and Guidry, end up somehow clicking in and seeing something in each other. And it makes it tough for both of them.

Then, Guidry gets a little exposed later. We found out a lot about her past, and that sort of comes back to haunt her. So she’s left, you know, just gonna have to get herself together.

Q: And for Bowen?

Naderi: I was just thinking about this in this moment. In the beginning of the series – this is not giving anything away – Bowen’s instinct is right. Which gives him the confidence to maybe be wrong at the end. I think about that and I actually love that. I think that draws me into the characters in the sense that, ‘Yeah, I was right,’ and then maybe he’s not so right. It was a good, nice little arc.

Dickens: I think these characters, the thing is, as colorful as they are, it really comes down to if they’re good people, they want to get the right person.

Naderi: Yeah, absolutely.

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