Hijack Season 2 puts Idris Elba’s negotiator character, Sam Nelson, back in the fray as he is put in the center of another high-stakes situation.
Elba talked with Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum about the second season, which he didn’t think would happen.
“I didn’t think we would do a Season 2,” he said. “It was really written to end at the end of Season 1. And when we thought about the challenges of how we can make another season, what do we need to think about? It really needed to make sense to me as an actor, but it also needs to make sense to you as an audience. You know, like, wait, what and how does that happen? And so for me, there was a real question of what is the continuation of where we’ve been?”
The ‘golden thread’ from Season 1 to Season 2
“We saw, ‘Oh, OK, there’s a through line here. Because…it was such a complex setup as to who hijacked the plane [in Season 1], that there has to be some follow-through. And there was, and that’s where we pick up this story. And so for me, just really defining what that is, figuring out how to actually tie that golden thread from season one to Season 2, that was a challenge.”
With this being one of his rare major television series roles, Elba also said that he is drawn to TV projects that are well-rounded with character and story.
“You know, I think it’s really more about just what is the story or what is the character, the format doesn’t really matter for me,” he said. “I think I’ve done TV and film in, you know, in varying degrees. It’s nice to be described as a theater film actor, but I guess I’m just an actor who has done a little bit of both. And I like the medium. I think at this junction, there is really not much distinction between film and television. Television allows you perhaps to be a little deeper, take the audience on a longer journey, but actually cinematically [and] dramatically. It could be a film, right? And in truth, both Season 1 and Season 2 are one day of that person’s life. So I just like story. I like characters that compel me and challenge me. Hopefully, I’m trying to do things that I haven’t been seeing before.”
Hijack Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.