Collider: What most excited each of you about getting to be part of an Agatha Christie story?
All those things are really fascinating.
It also feels almost like a kitchen sink in a strange way, because its so domestic.
Its in a house and its about a family.
That was really interesting.
OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN: I feel the same way.
Image via BritBox
Theres something quite decadent about it.
An amalgamation of all those things make it such a compelling thing to be a part of.
What felt like the biggest challenge, for each of you, in taking this on?
JACKSON-COHEN: Especially with a character like Audrey, theres a masking and holding everything back.
Every character partakes in that.
You dont really know who to trust.
Everyone is a suspect, so whos lying and whos not lying?
What are we withholding and what are we divulging?
At what precise moment are we showing something?
Image via BritBox
HYLAND: Exactly that.
Its about not knowing whos telling the truth and trying to patch the stories together.
What drew me the most was this relationship that Neville and Audrey have and the depth of it.
Our director was so emotionally intelligent and ambitious with how deep he wanted us to go explore that.
All of us together were trying to explore that, and that was the most enticing thing.
The BBC series premieres on March 2.
How was it to have Anjelica Houston around and have her presence on set?
JACKSON-COHEN: Shes phenomenal.
HYLAND: Its surreal, but then normal.
JACKSON-COHEN: Youre sometimes quite dubious of, Oh, how is this going to go?
When someone is that iconic, rightly so, you wonder, What are they going to be like?
But the grace and the generosity that she brings, she was incredible.
The first day we had, I had to lay down on the bed.
She brought up playing Morticia inThe Addams FamilyandThe Witches.
It was like getting a front-row seat to someones incredible story.
HYLAND: She is absolutely incredible and magnetic and really gracious.
Theres something really childlike about how curious she is, which is almost a part of her wisdom.
JACKSON-COHEN: First of all, I dont think wed be friends.
HYLAND: We wouldnt be friends.
JACKSON-COHEN: They are monsters.
HYLAND: Theyre so far in it that youd be like, Thats mad.
What can you even say?
JACKSON-COHEN: It must be exhausting being around those two.
That, in itself, is quite devastating.
So, in answer to your question, I dont know what we would tell them.
Maybe just, Guys, chill out.
What was it like to shoot the final confrontation with Matthew Rhys?
What was it like to have that moment, where everything comes out?
It was a really interesting process, getting to that point.
We also shot that on the hottest day.
There was a heatwave.
I dont know how Matthew did it, played tennis, and memorized pages and pages.
It was a master class, just watching him work and do it so effortlessly.
HYLAND: It was challenging, but it also felt like a relief.
A lot of the scenes towards the end, the characters start to tell the truth.
Everyone tells the truth.
It almost feels like youre playing a different character.
You have to trust that theyre multifaceted and that can exist too.
You get comfortable playing your character in a certain way.
JACKSON-COHEN: Anyone whos playing a murderer would also feel like there are two realities.
The series also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Did you see this trio of Neville, Audrey and Kay as a love triangle?
Did you see it as more of a game of manipulation?
Did you see it just as toxic?
JACKSON-COHEN: All of the above.
Thats whats so interesting about it.
Its not just ever one thing.
It was quite interesting, playing all that stuff and getting to explore what would happen.
I was just waiting for these two women to leave Neville behind and run off together.
JACKSON-COHEN: Why didnt they?
They would have been better off.
HYLAND: We always had that.
I was like, I fancy you.
And Mimi [Keene] was like, I fancy you.
They have this weird attraction to each other, which has to do with lust and jealousy.
Where does it come from?
Who has the upper hand in each moment?
Their dynamic is just so toxic.
It feels so much more intricate and nuanced and human.
There is this attraction and curiosity to Kay, and the control and power.
Its a very interesting dynamic that plays out.
HYLAND: Its also post-war, and there was an anxiety at that time.
They dont have a patriarchal outcome.
What Agatha Christie was doing was so intelligent and really ahead of her time.
Both of those characters, you realize how human they are instead of just being an archetype.
Its mad that she wrote that, at that time.
I didnt get into drama school.
Those first five years of my career were my drama school."
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