Naturally, filming can be stressful. Archie Panjabi, who plays the counterterrorism officer, recalled that Smith did his best to loosen up the set. At one point, trying to digest the series’ many dialogue-heavy scenes on the ground, the cast switched to singing and dancing between takes.
“We put a little number on it,” Panjabi said in the same phone interview as Elba. “We just went a little crazy to keep our energy up.”
“Hijack: The Musical is coming out soon,” Elba joked.
Despite its modern touches of realistic variety, the intelligence and mental anguish of its protagonists, there is something old-fashioned about Hijack’s charm. The collaboration of strangers under immense pressure reminds me of Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957). The relentless ticking of the clock towards disaster and the insane gang warfare to prevent the worst possible outcome reminds me of Failsafe (1964, also directed by Lumet).
This throwback quality became a big draw for Elba. Proud of the show, he knows it doesn’t matter if people don’t watch it. He wants viewers to know that this harrowing experience, which in real life is the ultimate nightmare, is actually more fun on screen.
“For me, it’s really good escapism,” he said. “I think this is intelligent and hopefully relatable to a lot of people. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, we’re doing really good and clever storytelling with compelling characters.” It’s just.”
Panjabi agrees. She recalled that her agent originally sent her scripts for her first three episodes to gauge her interest. She tore them up and immediately asked if I could see the rest. Her worried agent asked if she had any questions.
No, Ms. Punjabi recalls telling her, “I just want to know what happens to the passengers,” she said.
