The Tourist star Jamie Dornan has said there were “no easy days” on set of the upcoming BBC One thriller, adding that he’s never played a character “on this sort of scale” before.
Dornan stars in The Tourist, which airs on BBC One on New Year’s Day, as a British man who wakes up in the Australian Outback after a car accident with no memory of who he is or how he got there.
Speaking about the upcoming drama, Dornan said that his character, The Man, was “a challenge” to play when compared to his previous roles.
“I’ve played characters who have lost their memory before and are trying to piece things together, but not on this sort of scale and for this long.
“He’s constantly in a battle with himself and with all the information he’s getting, which is pretty much always bad news. That turmoil of having to deal with it, like so much of playing The Man, has been a challenge – he’s always on edge and confused and so angry all the time.”
He added: “There’s never an easy moment, even when he thinks something good is happening, that changes and he’s in a constant state of flux and mayhem.
“So as a result, there’s no easy days at the office for me! But that’s been both a challenge and a joy to play and discover this character.”
As for what he hopes audiences will take away from the show, Dornan said: “There’s so much TV now, so, you have to do something that keeps its head above that other stuff and stands out for the right reasons – and this journey is like nothing else.
“Hopefully the audience are willing to come on this mad journey with us!”
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The Fifty Shades of Grey star will act opposite Australian actor Danielle Macdonald, Line of Duty’s Shalom Brune-Franklin, The Missing’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Mindhunter’s Damon Herriman, who replaced Hugo Weaving on the drama just a week before filming began.