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BBC One\u2019s The Tourist<\/a> premieres on New Year\u2019s Day and while the thriller boasts an impressive cast led by Jamie Dornan, the show\u2019s creators have revealed that they had to recast a major role just one week before filming.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 however, the Matrix star had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts ahead of shooting.<\/p>\n Speaking to\u00a0RadioTimes.com<\/a> in an exclusive interview, Harry Williams said: \u201cIt was very last minute because it was a schedule thing and those things can always happen so they\u2019re always really last minute and a bit of a panic.\u00a0Luckily, Damon Herriman was around, who\u2019s just an incredible actor.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cHe 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,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t they, and Thor was filming so cast, crew, everyone \u2013 everyone was busy. It was really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cSo we got really lucky that he hadn\u2019t quite left the country because he\u2019s absolutely superb and I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p> Harry added that when Herriman was cast, the production crew had been \u201cabout to\u201d film scenes involving Agent Rogers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were, I\u2019d say, a week away from doing it and we had to do that thing of changing schedules and re-writing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe pushed his scene two weeks down to give us time to work with Damon and bring him in. But you know, that\u2019s 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, \u2018Oh, s**t.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of times we\u2019ve had to cast people at the last minute and then you go, \u2018I can\u2019t imagine it without them\u2019. Hugo Weaving is a great actor but I think Damon gives something, if I\u2019m just being honest, that\u2019s far more surprising and interesting than we would have got from Hugo.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tourist airs on BBC One on 1st January 2022. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n