BBC One’s The Tourist premieres on New Year’s Day and while the thriller boasts an impressive cast led by Jamie Dornan, the show’s creators have revealed that they had to recast a major role just one week before filming.
The six-parter, which stars Dornan as a British man who wakes up in the Australian Outback with no memory of his identity, originally signed Lord of the Rings actor Hugo Weaving up to play Agent Lachlan Rogers – however, the Matrix star had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts ahead of shooting.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview, Harry Williams said: “It was very last minute because it was a schedule thing and those things can always happen so they’re always really last minute and a bit of a panic. Luckily, Damon Herriman was around, who’s just an incredible actor.”
Herriman, who has appeared in Mindhunter, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Justified, replaced Weaving in the role just as filming was due to start.
“He was only just around, he was literally about to get a flight to Los Angeles that day and we got him on a Zoom and persuaded him to stay after about two hours, which was a relief,” Jack said.
“There wasn’t a lot of choice and getting into Australia on that notice is impossible. While Australia seemed like a great place to film at that time during COVID, it turns out everyone else had the same idea! They called it Aussiewood, didn’t they, and Thor was filming so cast, crew, everyone – everyone was busy. It was really hard.”
He continued: “So we got really lucky that he hadn’t quite left the country because he’s absolutely superb and I’ve always loved him. He was great in Justified from what I remember seeing him in first, so persuading him to stay was a great moment.”
Harry added that when Herriman was cast, the production crew had been “about to” film scenes involving Agent Rogers.
“We were, I’d say, a week away from doing it and we had to do that thing of changing schedules and re-writing.
“We pushed his scene two weeks down to give us time to work with Damon and bring him in. But you know, that’s OK. It does happen more than you think sadly. You make all these plans and then suddenly they change at the last minute and you go, ‘Oh, s**t.’
“The number of times we’ve had to cast people at the last minute and then you go, ‘I can’t imagine it without them’. Hugo Weaving is a great actor but I think Damon gives something, if I’m just being honest, that’s far more surprising and interesting than we would have got from Hugo.”
The Tourist airs on BBC One on 1st January 2022. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide.
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