'Passenger's Wunmi Mosaku Says "Everything Has Meaning" in the Series

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Passenger

The Big Picture

Collider's Perri Nemiroff talks to writer-director Andy Buchan and co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Barry Sloane for Passenger at New York Comic Con.
Passenger follows a close-knit community rocked by strange crimes, unraveling dark secrets and testing bonds.
In this interview, Buchan, Mosaku, and Sloane discuss the well-written dialogue, the visual style of the series, and the show's complex characters.

As an actor, Andy Buchan has brought joy and intrigue to worldwide audiences. Perhaps best known for his role as Mark Latmir in Broadchurch, Buchan has most recently been seen in the Rosemary's Baby prequel Apartment 7A and the mystical Carnival Row. Now, Buchan has shifted from acting to life behind the camera as the writer and creator of ITV's brand-new series Passenger.

The thrilling drama follows a series of strange, unnatural crimes occurring within a close-knit community. Soon, bonds are tested as secrets unravel, mysteries deepen, and members of the community must confront their fears and suspicions. The series stars Loki scene-stealer Wunmi Mosaku as determined detective Riya Ajunwa and The Bay's Barry Sloane as the mysterious Eddie Wells.

At New York Comic Con, Buchan, Mosaku, and Sloane stopped by Collider's interview studio to chat with Perri Nemiroff about the series. You can watch the full non-spoiler conversation in the video above or read the interview transcript below to find out how this team made a visually stunning show on a smaller budget, how Buchan's career as an actor directly led to keenly written dialogue, and loads more.

The 'Passenger' Cast & Crew Brought Andy Buchan's Imagination to Life

PERRI NEMIROFF: Andy, I’m wondering what kicked off the itch to write for you. Is it something you always knew you had in you, or was it this story in particular?

ANDY BUCHAN: The former, I'd say. I've always etched little imaginings on the back of bus receipts or in coffee shops. I'll always come up with an idea and then grab a piece of paper off a waiter and go, “Have you got a pen? Can I just quickly…?” Little ideas are always springing around inside my head the entire time. So, yes, Passenger was the most fully formed of those ideas that I've had in a while. It's partly that and partly an idea I guess I've had since growing up because it relates to where I grew up and the people I grew up with. So, the whole thing matched quite well in my head.

The answer to this might be no, but as someone who always scribbles things down, do you remember any little thing that you've scribbled that now we can see in the finished show?

BUCHAN: I've got a ton of those at home. “Maybe” is the answer to that.

I'll take that.

Wunmi Mosaku looking shocked as she holds something in the snowy forest in Passenger

What surprised you most, especially with all your experience working in this industry as an actor, about what it takes to take a script and then get it a green light to go to series?

BUCHAN: The grind behind the scenes is huge. It's the detail that goes into it. Imagine what you're seeing behind you, but just art department. So, the day that I was first introduced to art department. I feel so fortunate to have had this, but for people to bring every facet of every idea or every imagining you've had in your head to life, not just the amazing actors but this team and this art department who are working day and night, coming up with every little tiny thing that you've dreamt up, everything on the script, from a notebook to a vehicle to a video game, to whatever, they're constantly working and changing and doing the graphics for, I'm like, “Wow, guys!” It kind of blew me away.

Wunmi Mosaku and Barry Sloane on Exploring & Crafting Their Characters

Wunmi and Barry, when you get a script like this, can you tell when it's written by someone who has an understanding of the craft of acting?

WUNMI MOSAKU: Yes!

BARRY SLOANE: Yeah, 100%. When the words flow so freely and so easily, you can tell that they've been put through the synapses of someone who does that for a living, and this was that from the get-go.

MOSAKU: You can really feel it. You can feel when words stick in your mouth. You find it even with auditioning, things that can't stick into your mind. It's normally because it's not written very well. When we got this script, it was juicy and luxurious, and it was in our voices and in this northern tone. It felt really normal, but then also really elevated and then really easy and then really rich. You just go, “This is written by someone who knows what it feels like to say good dialogue,” not someone who is just trying to get their intelligence down on a page or the exposition down on the page. It’s someone who enjoys speaking the words.

Barry Sloane wearing a denim jacket in Passenger

Big two-part character question now. When you first signed on, what aspect of your character were you most looking forward to playing, but then also, can you tell me a part of them that you found along the way?

SLOANE: There was a lot with Eddie early on that was unexplained. We got the first two episodes to go from, so I was sent the backstory, that he'd been released from prison and he had this checkered past. Then, while exploring him, we found a visual look and a quality to him that I wanted to play with, but I didn't know exactly where he was going to go, so it was like a page-turner each time. We got a really pleasant resolve that I'm very excited for people to see with this energy. He's an interesting character, for sure.

MOSAKU: From the get-go, the dialogue for me, I really love the way that Riya speaks. I love her hardness and her sarcasm, but also her warmth, too. You can really feel her walls and the defenses that she puts up, though — the need to keep people at arm's length, but also the want for community and love. It was the whole package. It was the whole thing. Then, speaking to Andy about what the journey is going to be, it was just exciting because every single person and every single thing that has any kind of focus in the story, even if it's a fleeting focus, actually has purpose and has a journey, whether it's a person or a thing. That, for me, was like, “This is brilliant.” Nothing is superfluous. Everything has meaning and is needed.

"That's kind of blown my mind."

Wunmi Mosaku holding a flashlight in the snowy woods in Passenger

I wanted to come back to you, Andy, for the collaborator idea. One of the greatest things about making a show is you craft this story that's important to you, but then you bring in other artists. You essentially hand your baby to them and they help evolve it. Can you name a specific aspect of the finished product that was stronger than you ever could have imagined at the start because of what someone else brought out of it?

BUCHAN: There's one initial example of that that definitely springs to mind. I should mention that everyone along the way put their two pieces in. I'm so unbelievably grateful to the entire team. We had two amazing directors, Lee [Haven Jones] and Nicole [Charles], but I mention Lee because his right-hand man, the DP called Bryan [Gavigan], at the very start, I think Wunmi and Barry would agree that we didn't have the greatest budget on the planet. It was an OK budget, but it wasn't the greatest budget.

MOSAKU: [Laughs] And most of it went on the snow.

BUCHAN: To Bryan, I was like, “What kind of things have you been working on?” He was like, “Well, it's funny you come over, Andy, because I was thinking about this as a look for the show,” and I was like, “Ah, okay. I think that's maybe another show with a bigger budget, maybe. I don't think we'll achieve that. It looks incredible, but I don't think we're going to get anywhere near that.” And then we did the read-through, and then he showed all the powers that be the same images, and he was like, “I thought about this as a look for it,” and they were all like, “Yeah, if you can do that, then great.” And he somehow did it. So when I was first watching the rushes of everything, I was like, “How has he done that on so little time?” That's kind of blown my mind.” But everyone threw their ideas in.

Passenger is available to stream on BritBox now.

A close-knit community is sent spinning on its axis following a series of strange and unnatural crimes.

Release Date March 24, 2024

Cast Wunmi Mosaku , Rowan Robinson , Barry Sloane , David Threlfall , Daniel Ryan , Natalie Gavin , Hubert Hanowicz , Jack James Ryan , Matilda Freeman , Ella Bruccoleri , Arian Nik , Jo Hartley , Debbie Rush , Nico Mirallegro , Sean Gilder , Shervin Alenabi

Creator(s) Andrew Buchan

Watch on BritBox

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