Alfie Allen and Shazad Latif Discuss Their Explosive New Series 'Atomic'
The age-old nuclear conundrum sees a new action packed tv take.
The idea of nuclear tension has permeated in pop culture for a long time, with themes of morality, existentialism, and scientific ethics. It seems almost natural that along comes the new series ‘Atomic’, from writer Gregory Burke. The five-part television series is based on a non-fiction book called Atomic Bazaar, a book which tackled the volatility of nuclear geopolitics. Burke’s new series Atomic harnesses these themes, but puts them into the context of a grounded, action-thriller / buddy-dynamic gone wrong sort of premise, lead by actors Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones, John Wick), and Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery, Nautilus).
Allen plays a smuggling cartel driver named Max, who finds himself in over his head during a job-gone-wrong in the Saharan desert, where he must reluctantly team up with a mysterious figure known to him only as JJ, played by Latif. The two must work together to transport uranium across North Africa, with criminal and law-enforcement factions alike hot on the duo’s tail. As the series goes on, the morality of the two leads becomes further tested, faced to decide whether to save their own skins, or the world at large. Elsewhere, Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange Is The New Black) stars as Dr. Cassie Elliott, a physics lecturer who finds herself roped into the globe-trotting nuclear conflict, and must face her own moral conundrums along the way.
With Atomic, we get more of a visceral and action-packed approach to the aforementioned ideas surrounding nuclear morality. However, there's still an element of humanism there, especially with these two main characters. When asked about this specific story's take on the topic of nuclear morality, Latif thinks the show can be much broader than expected, and can make it relatable to almost anyone.
“I think it's the honing in on the human aspect,” Latif reveals. “Within that world of madness that goes on and the different groups that are chasing each other, and uranium and all of that, we focus in on these two characters who are caught up in it. It’s their little, beautiful, human moments that happen along the way, moment to moment, which is what is interesting. It’s the macro and the micro in that sense, because that's sort of what the world is. There's so much going on all the time, but really it's day to day. It's between two people, which is kind of beautiful.”
The key of the show is this unlikley friendship that builds between Max and J.J. and the chemistry between the duo. Allen admits you can’t force chemistry, as you’d expect, and it really did build as the show kept filming. “I don't think you can sort of have those big red arrows pointing towards anything specific,” Allen says. “Greg’s writing was incredible, but in terms of sort of forcing those moments to happen - It can just feel a bit cheesy sometimes. But I think in terms of the small human moments, that's where the humor sort of comes out in this I feel anyway, and I hope that's how the audiences feel as well.”
Allen and Latif spoke with FilmSpeak about their response to the material, approaches to physicality, and more. click below for the full interview.
