The case at the center of Nocturne is personal for both Jonah Lynn and Saga Bauer.
In Apple TV’s crime drama, based on Lars Kepler’s novels, Liev Schreiber plays Jonah, a homicide detective, and Zazie Beetz plays Saga, an FBI agent and the daughter of his former partner, as the two go up against serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham). Beetz and Schreiber exclusively spoke with BLKCinema.com about the tension in Jonah and Saga’s relationship, the backstory they built together and what’s ahead for Saga’s undercover mission.
How Jonah and Saga’s bond shapes the case in ‘Nocturne’
Beetz said the characters’ history with Jurek drives them, and their history with each other complicates things.
“I think they both see this case very personally. This man, they believe, affected their lives and caused them to lose loved ones, so they’re very driven to get to the bottom of what’s going on,” Beetz said. “I think it affects their relationship, because they are both protective of each other and don’t want the other to get hurt, whether emotionally or literally, and that causes tension between the two of us. As the season goes on, we also dive into a little bit more of our shared history.”
She said that protectiveness runs up against both characters’ stubborn streaks.
“I think they both feel their own personal need. In some ways, it’s like, I should be doing what I’m doing, but you shouldn’t,” Beetz said. “But we also understand each other and understand our own stubborn way of, all right, he’s gonna do it, and I’m gonna do it too. We both know we’re good, but we’re also not necessarily right, because we’re too close to the case.”
Liev Schreiber on building Jonah and Saga’s backstory
Schreiber said much of the early work was mapping out what the two share before the series begins.
“It was a lot of work early on to bang out shared backstory so that we were on the same page. I think that’s the stuff that affects that element of our relationship,” Schreiber said. “What actually happened with my ex-partner, who was her father? What was her time at the academy, going to Quantico? Who were we as cops, and who were we as people and parents? It’s a lot of backstory to fill in, so that was the job, at least initially, for me.”
Zazie Beetz teases Saga’s undercover mission
Episode 2 ends with Saga preparing to go undercover, and Beetz said viewers will see a new side of her.
“Going undercover, I think it’ll be fun for the audience to see the differences between Saga and the undercover character,” Beetz said. “A lot of the show is about Jurek’s mind game manipulation tactics, but then we’re all kind of playing our own personal mind games with each other, and how that all ends up unraveling in the end is a fun watch.”
Schreiber added that secrets are what keep the season moving.
“I think it’s about what Zazie said. Each of these characters is harboring some really big secrets,” Schreiber said. “With a 10-episode arc on a show like this, it’s fun to figure out how you strategically release those secrets, when you release them, and how it changes the tone and tempo of everything.”
When do new episodes of ‘Nocturne’ come out?
Nocturne premiered with its first two episodes Oct. 30 on Apple TV, with new episodes Fridays through Dec. 25.
Featured image photo credit: Apple TV
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