00:00The stakes are... I mean, I know I'm not going to get killed after this interrogation.
00:04Guys, congratulations on the show.
00:06Gripping and intense, intimate at times.
00:08An insane ending to the first episode.
00:10Loved it.
00:11And, of course, incredibly well cast.
00:14So, I'm going to start with you guys.
00:16Matt and Ben, tell me what made Reece Ifans such a great actor to put in the heart of a
00:22show like this?
00:24You know, the chief designer is such a complicated role because there are so many layers to him.
00:29There is the weight of what he's trying to do, you know, in terms of pushing humankind forward.
00:36The knowledge of the stakes of what, you know, doing or saying the wrong thing might do.
00:41But there's also a sense of almost childlike playfulness of, like, what am I going to get away with?
00:49And I think we knew we needed somebody that was incredibly versatile to capture all the different layers of this
00:57character.
00:57And Reece, there was nobody else that could do it.
01:02Reece, you've performed so many kind of iconic but very different roles over the years that we know you from.
01:07From Notting Hill to The Boat That Rocked and Harry Potter and Spider-Man and House of the Dragon.
01:13Me in particular, I was a massive fan of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands.
01:16Oh, yeah.
01:16And I've always wanted to tell you how much I loved, not only but always, the Pete Cook and Dudley
01:22Moore kind of bio we had over here.
01:24You guys should watch it.
01:25It was absolutely brilliant.
01:27But I wondered, what was it about the chief designer that kind of felt like a new challenge and a
01:32step into a place unknown for you as an actor?
01:34Well, it was just playing, just the notion of playing someone that for most of the world and even the
01:43society he lived in didn't exist.
01:45It was kind of almost like playing a living ghost, if you like.
01:51And so that's a strange space to inhabit for anyone.
01:55And it's unique, you know, and for a man, you know, who was very much compared to the American space
02:03program where the knowledge to get people into space scientifically was held by, you know, a conglomerate of people, you
02:13know.
02:13But in the USSR, it was this one guy, really, you know, who had all the cards, shall we say.
02:23So, yeah, and it's just, I was just interested in playing someone with the weight of the world and the
02:29moon on his shoulders and how you operate and navigate your way through a system in order to get what
02:36you want done while still pleasing and placating your masters.
02:42You know, I just found that, I just found the whole, the plate spinning aspect of it very.
02:52Like a cool thing to play, basically, you know.
02:55I guess there's some weird parallels between being an actor and that kind of character because you, you're embodying all
03:00these different roles.
03:01Like you're, I guess kind of the, the, the, in his particular situation, he's, he's lauded and yet unknown.
03:10Yeah.
03:10And as an actor, people see you as these characters.
03:12It's a little bit like being an actor, but the stakes are pretty much higher.
03:18I mean, I know I'm not going to get killed after this interrogation.
03:20You don't know, you don't know how, depends how much people enjoy the show or not.
03:24No, but I mean, I know what you mean.
03:26I mean, it is, it is interesting in that, that place of being, you know, visible the whole time.
03:32Particularly in this day and age, you know, we surveil ourselves to, to, to a large degree, you know.
03:37So I, I was kind of, um, attracted, shall we say, to the notion of total anonymity.
03:44You know what I mean?
03:45It does have an appeal.
03:46How much a bit of an impact does a role like this take in you?
03:48Because it does make, when I look at a character, well, an actor, sorry, like you, you're very difficult to
03:53pin down because you've played such variety over the years.
03:56And I, I do wonder, like, was there any, any role that you took that left more of an imprint
04:01on you than any others?
04:03Uh, and whether, how this kind of matches up for us?
04:05The roles themselves don't take an impact on you, but being in a state of mind for many hours of
04:12the day can, you know.
04:14Um, yeah, but I'm never going to complain about my job.
04:18I mean, I love it, you know, and it's, uh, and the, the fact that it's hard is what makes
04:23it fun, you know.
04:24So, um, yeah, um, yeah, I, I, no, I, I, no, I mean, I, I don't, I don't bring it
04:32home, really.
04:33And at least you don't have to turn into a lizard in this one.
04:36Well, you, wait, what episode are you on?
04:38I've only, I've only just gone into episode two, so I can't.
04:40This guy's, don't forget this guy's a genius.
04:42Oh, yeah, okay, fair enough.
04:44A lizard on the moon, it could all be happening.
04:46Uh, and guys, the, the, the weight of the success of Brawl Mankind, I knew it was a big show.
04:51I didn't realize just how kind of, how big it was and how kind of critically lauded it was.
04:56Uh, and I wondered for fans of, of that show, because this feels like very, for me, it feels like
05:01very much of a standalone thing.
05:02How symbiotic are these two universes?
05:06Are the shows designed to kind of coexist and feed off each other?
05:09Or are they kind of separate entities to enjoy?
05:15I would say, you know, for, there's no Star City without For All Mankind.
05:19But I think if you haven't seen For All Mankind, you very much can jump into Star City without any
05:24problem.
05:24I think we, we wanted to tell this story, not because it continued For All Mankind.
05:29It's its own show, its own, its own world, its own characters.
05:33There are definitely Easter eggs and some characters you see in both.
05:36So fans of For All Mankind, I think will enjoy this.
05:38But we really intentionally wanted to come in and do something different here.
05:42You know, even the nature of where it's set and the, and the place and time makes it almost feel
05:47like a different genre.
05:48I would say this is more spy thriller than For All Mankind, which is probably more sci-fi.
05:52I was thinking Chernobyl in space was the vibe I got from it.
05:56I'm going to use that one. I like that. Yeah.
05:58But that, that kind of paranoia, that kind of pressure, I think there was that element of For All Mankind.
06:03But the level in Star City is much higher. The stakes are much higher.
06:07And the risks they took, these cosmonauts, these engineers were much higher.
06:10I mean, they were, you know, the American program was so obsessed with risk management and safety.
06:15The, the Soviets were obsessed with getting their first and showing the world how powerful they were.
06:21And I think that involved the courage, the bravery of these men and women who took risks that when we
06:27were researching this,
06:28we couldn't believe half of what we were reading.
06:30And many of the stories in this show are based in part on real stories that were happening, which is,
06:36is hard to believe.
06:37I've really enjoyed it. I'm definitely going to be cracking on.
06:39And I hope you guys make a lot more of it.
06:42Thanks very much for giving me your time today.
06:43Pleasure. And, and watch not only will always, it's an absolute crap.
06:48Oh, thank you very much. Cheers.
06:49Really, really good performance as well.
06:51Cheers, guys.
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