Shannyn and Tim, how do your characters fit into the story?
SHANNYN SOSSAMON: We’re in a little bit of a separate universe from Matt Dillon’s character, Ethan Burke. I play his wife, Theresa Burke. I’m in Seattle worried about him because I hear that he’s been in a car accident.
TIM GRIFFIN: I play Adam Hassler. I’m his Special Agent in Charge, so I’m his boss, but I’m also their personal friend and I’m the one who breaks the news to Theresa that her husband, who she has been trying to track down, has suffered an accident. And then, we turn to each other to try to figure out what happened.
SOSSAMON: The catch is that he’s been in this accident, but his body is nowhere to be found, so I find that suspicious. Our marriage has been on the rocks, so there are other things that I think might be going on and I need answers. I take it upon myself, and my 14-year-old comes along as well, and we go on the road and try to find him. No signs of a body is odd, and he hasn’t called.
GRIFFIN: It’s a mystery, one might say.
How do you even find out that there was an accident?
GRIFFIN: We recover the car.
Did any of you read the books this show is adapted from?
SOSSAMON: I read one.
GRIFFIN: I did not want to read the books. It’s better to not know if you’re in the Red Wedding, so I did not read ahead.
CARLA GUGINO: I was initially told not to read the books, but I snuck and read one the first one. Because the novelist, Blake Crouch, was so involved with Chad Hodge and the entire process, it felt like it was adjusting to the story that you needed to tell, when you were seeing things. My character is in there a lot longer than Matt’s character, and there’s a lot of information that she didn’t have, so we had to make some adjustments. You can believe that when you’re reading it, but if you’re seeing someone every day, you can’t believe that they might not know something. It’s very faithful to the book, but he wanted to have the departures that come with making it in a different medium.
DILLON: I was told not to read them and I took their advice. But after we shot the first episode, I read most of the first book.
What was it like to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and the level of directing talent behind this show?
SOSSAMON: It was amazing because you just felt really confident that the tone was going to be set in a way that was dedicated and not compromising the quality.
GRIFFIN: M. Night told us, going in, that he wanted it to be like a film. So, every director that came in after had a unique perspective, and were really acclaimed directors, but ones that don’t traditionally work in television. You’ll get these incredibly original, beautiful visuals, and I think it pays off because the series is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
DILLON: It’s a little uncommon in television that it was very director-driven, and M. Night set that tone. Any questions that you have on a TV show typically goes through the writer and producer, and that was there, but the directors actually got much more involved in the story.
GUGINO: And that was encouraged.
DILLON: That was good for us. For me, coming out of film, that’s what I’m used to.
What would you say to someone wondering whether or not they should watch this show?
GRIFFIN: You’re going to be in for a great thrill-ride. It’s a great mystery with the most unparalleled cast that you’ll ever see on television. Everybody does killer work in it, and it’s really fun. M. Night makes it accessible and fun, and he makes you part of the story. It’s just great television.
DILLON: I would say to expect a good noir. There are going to be a lot of reveals, as you go along. You’re maybe not gonna understand everything right away, but that’s okay. I would like viewers to expect to watch something that’s really very atmospheric and very textural with interesting characters. And be prepared for some surprises.
GUGINO: And surprises that you really don’t see coming. What’s interesting is that all of the characters have a different level of information, and the audience is in the same position. We’re all going together into this world that is not what it seems. It’s a good idea and it’s well-structured, and you get to live with these people as these mysteries are unfolding. And it’s also, by the way, beautiful to look at. It’s very beautifully shot, but you can tell something is not quite right.
SHANNYN SOSSAMON: We’re in a little bit of a separate universe from Matt Dillon’s character, Ethan Burke. I play his wife, Theresa Burke. I’m in Seattle worried about him because I hear that he’s been in a car accident.
TIM GRIFFIN: I play Adam Hassler. I’m his Special Agent in Charge, so I’m his boss, but I’m also their personal friend and I’m the one who breaks the news to Theresa that her husband, who she has been trying to track down, has suffered an accident. And then, we turn to each other to try to figure out what happened.
SOSSAMON: The catch is that he’s been in this accident, but his body is nowhere to be found, so I find that suspicious. Our marriage has been on the rocks, so there are other things that I think might be going on and I need answers. I take it upon myself, and my 14-year-old comes along as well, and we go on the road and try to find him. No signs of a body is odd, and he hasn’t called.
GRIFFIN: It’s a mystery, one might say.
How do you even find out that there was an accident?
GRIFFIN: We recover the car.
Did any of you read the books this show is adapted from?
SOSSAMON: I read one.
GRIFFIN: I did not want to read the books. It’s better to not know if you’re in the Red Wedding, so I did not read ahead.
CARLA GUGINO: I was initially told not to read the books, but I snuck and read one the first one. Because the novelist, Blake Crouch, was so involved with Chad Hodge and the entire process, it felt like it was adjusting to the story that you needed to tell, when you were seeing things. My character is in there a lot longer than Matt’s character, and there’s a lot of information that she didn’t have, so we had to make some adjustments. You can believe that when you’re reading it, but if you’re seeing someone every day, you can’t believe that they might not know something. It’s very faithful to the book, but he wanted to have the departures that come with making it in a different medium.
DILLON: I was told not to read them and I took their advice. But after we shot the first episode, I read most of the first book.
What was it like to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and the level of directing talent behind this show?
SOSSAMON: It was amazing because you just felt really confident that the tone was going to be set in a way that was dedicated and not compromising the quality.
GRIFFIN: M. Night told us, going in, that he wanted it to be like a film. So, every director that came in after had a unique perspective, and were really acclaimed directors, but ones that don’t traditionally work in television. You’ll get these incredibly original, beautiful visuals, and I think it pays off because the series is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
DILLON: It’s a little uncommon in television that it was very director-driven, and M. Night set that tone. Any questions that you have on a TV show typically goes through the writer and producer, and that was there, but the directors actually got much more involved in the story.
GUGINO: And that was encouraged.
DILLON: That was good for us. For me, coming out of film, that’s what I’m used to.
What would you say to someone wondering whether or not they should watch this show?
GRIFFIN: You’re going to be in for a great thrill-ride. It’s a great mystery with the most unparalleled cast that you’ll ever see on television. Everybody does killer work in it, and it’s really fun. M. Night makes it accessible and fun, and he makes you part of the story. It’s just great television.
DILLON: I would say to expect a good noir. There are going to be a lot of reveals, as you go along. You’re maybe not gonna understand everything right away, but that’s okay. I would like viewers to expect to watch something that’s really very atmospheric and very textural with interesting characters. And be prepared for some surprises.
GUGINO: And surprises that you really don’t see coming. What’s interesting is that all of the characters have a different level of information, and the audience is in the same position. We’re all going together into this world that is not what it seems. It’s a good idea and it’s well-structured, and you get to live with these people as these mysteries are unfolding. And it’s also, by the way, beautiful to look at. It’s very beautifully shot, but you can tell something is not quite right.
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