“We’re just as shocked as the series unfolds!" Dead Hot Cast speak to Hot Press

Created and written by Charlotte Coben (daughter of thriller maestro Harlan), Prime Video’s new comedy-thriller Dead Hot focuses on Liverpool twenty-somethings Elliot (Bilal Hasna) and Jess (Vivian Oparah), who are united by grief over the mysterious disappearance of Jess’s brother, Peter, five years previously.

When Elliot meets Will, it seems a future of exciting possibilities is on the horizon, only for Elliot to discover that Will has his own dark secrets. Jess, meanwhile, is contacted by someone claiming to be Peter – all of which sets the stage for a darkly comedic thrill-ride that explores love, relationships, trauma, class and more.

Hasna says the multi-faceted nature of the script was a big appeal. “It was the contrast Charlotte was able to achieve,” he notes. “There’s this wild, colourful and quite camp world, but that’s the backdrop to these smaller, but really interesting and hopefully quite relatable characters. They’re going through something extremely real, and the camp backdrop heightens the reality of that central relationship. I was very interested in how to navigate that relationship tonally.”

Was it difficult to navigate those tonal shifts? “It was tricky,” nods Bilal. “Often, you’ll have an emotional scene that ends on this absurd and funny note. Or there’s a comedic scene with an emotional middle and a very surprising end. We just tried to approach the whole show from a place of realism – we felt we were in a drama even though we knew this was more of an offbeat thriller. We played the reality rather than the jokes, because that’s the job of the other characters.”

In its idiosyncratic comedic style, Dead Hot somewhat recalls Simon Pegg and Jessica Stephenson’s cult hit Spaced, and indeed there is a guest appearance from celebrated comedy actor Peter Serafinowicz. Were their specific influences cited for the show?

“There were a couple of references,” acknowledges Bilal. “I think a big one for Charlotte was Search Party, which is an American show. Again, it was about twenty-somethings searching for someone who’s gone missing, or presumed dead. It’s only about four or five characters, and their relationship feels very real. But it takes place against this larger than life backdrop of New York, with a lot of intrigue and mystery.”

How aware were the actors of the various twists and turns that occur as Dead Hot progresses? “We received episodes one to three in a block,” explains Vivian.

“But we didn’t know what went on in episodes four to six. We’re just as shocked as the series unfolds! I think that allows you to be present in the moment your character is in, and not get bogged down by the technicalities of trying to build an arc. Because these are just people, and insane things are happening to them on a day-to-day basis.

“They have to weather those storms as they come, they don’t have a toolkit for what’s going on. Us not needing to plan helped us with the immediacy of our reactions.”

The storyline requires Elliot and Jess to possess a very intimate connection from the off, but Oparah says it wasn’t difficult to portray.

“Bilal and I had a chemistry read early on,” she reflects. “Immediately, I was just like, ‘I like this boy so much!’ When you’re holed up in Liverpool for three months, it creates a kind of Love Island environment, where you’re like, ‘This is my closest contemporary here!’ We spent a lot of time hanging out and realised we had loads in common, in terms of films and stuff we liked outside of the characters. So it was very easy to forge a relationship, for me anyway.”

“We also lived on top of each other in this flat block,” adds Bilal. “It was quite a different experience for me, because the show basically has Elliot and Jess as the constant, and everyone else comes in and out. We were there together for three-and-a-half months, so of course became like siblings as well. It was the best.”

Elsewhere among the impressive support cast are Rosie Cavaliero of Peep Show and Inside No. 9 renown, and Downton Abbey’s Penelope Wilton.

Penelope Wilton in Dead Hot

“They’re totally amazing,” enthuses Hasna. “It was so inspiring to see. This is obviously quite a young person’s show, and it’s about grief in young age. It was incredible to how much curiosity and imagination Rosie and Penelope brought to their roles, but also to the set. They were mining the script all the time and adding improvisations, and wanting to make it so pop and alive, but also rooted. They really took leadership and responsibility over the tone of those scenes. Viv’s actually worked with Penelope before.”

“She’s just the loveliest, most brilliant person and actor,” says Vivian. “It was wonderful to be able to watch her. I wasn’t in that many scenes with her, but it’s hard to not just stop and watch how brilliant she is.”

It’s notable how absolutely central mobile phones are to Elliot and Jess, with both characters permanently texting and scrolling. Do the actors feel it was a real comment on their generation?

“They are in constant communication,” says Vivian. “It’s intense, but they do have this strange co-dependency. I don’t think it’s meant to be indicative of our generation by any means, I just think it’s indicative of the intimacy of their relationship. There are no bounds. They’re the type of people where, if you’re on the toilet, the door’s open – they’re constantly together. I think that’s the reason for the incessant texting.”

As actors, does reacting to phone texts present a particular challenge?

“I found a lot of the phone acting really interesting,” says Bilal. “In the show, there are a lot of big revelations and shocks, and some of those happen on the phone. But often when you’re on a phone, you’re very muted and your response is never that visual. Trying to mimic that was actually quite hard. Luckily, when you’re filming those scenes, a graphic comes up on the phone you’re using. So it mimics real life to a good degree.

“But in terms of not overdoing it, I found it very interesting how to respond to that stuff. When it came to the phone cutaways you see, me and Viv are always talking about thumb acting for phones! You don’t want to do too much, because you never do too much. Even if you’re anticipating a text message, you’re not hovering your thumbs over the screen. But also, you need to give it a little bit more than real life as well. It’s very hard to manage.”

It’s definitely shaping up to be quite a 2024 for Hasna. In addition to Dead Hot, next month also finds him starring in one of the year’s most anticipated shows, 3 Body Problem, the first offering from Game Of Thrones creators David Benioff and DB Weiss following their much-hyped Netflix deal.

“I feel very lucky,” he acknowledges. “It’s been a bit of a crazy start to the year. A lot of work I’ve done over the past couple of years is weirdly coming out in the same few weeks. My character in 3 Body Problem is quite different to Elliot, so hopefully over the course of the next month, you’re not going to see too much of me in the same way. But yeah, I’m excited for everything to come out. It’s nice to be able to celebrate.”

How did Vivian find shooting in Liverpool? “Neither of us had been before, so it was nice to be able to explore the city,” she replies. “I think both of us were used to shooting in London a lot, when London is hectic. In comparison, it was very tame and easy to navigate. The streets aren’t as busy, the people are calmer and nice, so it was lovely.”

Obviously, given Coben’s family background, comparisons will be made to her father’s work. Did the actors feel any pressure in helping the writer realise her own vision? “I guess this is down to the producer Nicola Shindler, the production company Quay Street and Amazon,” says Bilal, “but one of the things I really enjoyed is that the show is an endorsement of new talent. Obviously you have me and Viv as the leads, and it was the first TV show for Sam Arbor, who directed the first block of episodes. It’s also Charlotte’s first original TV series. It was a very supportive and collaborative environment – Charlotte really encouraged us to take ownership of the characters.

“Whether it be adding little lines, or doing line edits or making suggestions, there was a real environment of collaboration. I think it had to do with the fact that we were all quite similar in age, and we were all doing it together in a new and exciting way. The show is a real endorsement of Charlotte and her vision. I think it shares a lot with Harlan’s stuff, in terms of the intrigue and the deeply knotty plots, but it has a different aesthetic. I hope audiences can see they share a Venn diagram, but that they’re a little bit different as well.”

• Dead Hot is available on Prime Video from March 1.

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