Noomi Rapace and James D’Arcy are husband and wife in the Apple TV+ space thriller Constellation. Rapace is Jo, a wife, and mother on a 9-month mission, while husband Magnus played by D’Arcy cares for their young daughter Alice, played by twins Rosie and Davina Coleman. They are trying to live a normal life on their own but soon normal ends. Things soon spin out of control through no one’s fault. So just what is space? The series, created and written by Peter Harness is an extraordinary and visceral experience that will throw you off the rails again and again. What She said’ Anne Brodie spoke with D’Arcy from London about this innovative thriller.
Anne Brodie – The series is complex in ways we don’t normally see in film. The time space-time continuum is broken and it’s terrifying.
James D’Arcy -I had a similar reaction. I hadn’t been given any information prior, and I was given all 8 episodes and I read it all in one hit, so I think that I have a reasonable take on the tricky nature of what we’re about to experience as an audience. Having digested it all, we’re looking at a complex meditation, fast-paced, on the nature of the human condition which incorporates elements of a thriller, conspiracy drama, and really human family stuff at the heart of the show. It is for sure, unlike anything I have ever read before. It is completely unique in its look at how human beings react under pressure.
A – Also interesting is the density of the relationship between dad and daughter. Her mother is in space so the two of you have long, extended periods together, most of them extraordinarily long. Their dramatic thing, their curiosity…
J – … it’s hard to talk about it without giving anything away. It’s tricky.
A– They are in this fraught situation for long periods of time. It’s rare to see that, and an incredible way to show a father-daughter relationship under stress.
J– It was really appealing to me to do this father-daughter storyline. I am a relatively new parent, I have two very small children and the idea of exploring the father-daughter dynamic is something I feel is slightly underrepresented in television drama, in the same way that we have a successful woman going off on her job and the husband s prepared to make sacrifices. So often it’s the reverse. Because of the nature of the show, nothing is quite what it seems. What Peter does is put everybody in fraught situations. They are really at the end of their rope and then explore how we behave under those circumstances. All within the framework of a pretty exciting thriller.
A– Oh, yes! It blew my mind at times.
J -That’s good, that what I feel like it’s about, well, not losing your mind, but having the rug constantly pulled out from under your feet, every single character – everybody being gaslit, just when you think you have a handle on it, you do not have a handle on it.
A– The twin actresses who play your daughter are exposed to adult material, morality reality, and death. How did you keep them protected?
J – They are extraordinary young women. As actors, yes, but as human beings, I have never, ever encountered two 11, 12-year-olds who are so together. They just had a maturity on their shoulders. But while still being innocent, and that’s a testament to their parents, their mother was with them all the time, she’s wonderful. A film set is a tricky place for an adult to be, never mind a child. Especially ones who are out in a foreign country, taken out of school. They just did it so brilliantly. Half the time it was like they were showing us how to do it.
A– There are many points when Magnus seems to be absolutely helpless. It’s good to see that men, husbands, and fathers feel the same range of emotions, but the twins on some adult roles at times. A first.
J– I feel like Peter Harness has done something unique, I mean it. Some of what we’re talking about shouldn’t be so unique. There are dramas about successful ambitious females, that support the idea of a father making sacrifices and staying home with the children. That also needs to be represented more. I love that Peter managed to scrape all of that in.
A– There’s a coverup related to a US Apollo space mission, the lengths to which the unsuccessful missions were covered up. Impact on what’s happening now.
J- I don’t know how much of that we can talk about. Yes, it is a show that explores the ills and frailties of the human condition. Yes, we put it into some really extreme situations that really kick those tires but ultimately it’s a human story. that’s what I connected to when I read the script, within these slightly fantastical situations. I believed it all. It felt very rooted, very human, and very real to me.
A– Some characters may be suffering from “elevation psychosis” which is a real condition. Mountaineers get it and people in space can experience it. Were you aware of that?
J– No, no. I assumed it was something conveniently invented for the show and like you, learned it was real.
A– Well space is dangerous and so is working in blizzards in Inari, Finland. How was that?
J – Amazing, spectacular. This particular job as an actor took me from being on a camel in the desert in Morocco to riding up behind huskies in a sled, in Finland. It was the luckiest possible job I could ever hope to have. It has real global scope and I admire Apple’s commitment to it, and as a global show. And those production values! It’s all very well having nice expensive sets and locations and the rest of it, but if the story isn’t engaging then we’re lost. For me reading the script about human connections of lack of connection, people missing each other and not communicating properly for reasons we have not yet discovered. It just makes for a really dramatic backdrop and these very cinematic locations.
Constellation begins streaming on AppleTV+ Feb. 21.