For All Mankind fans will be reminded of the show’s earlier seasons in a big way with new prequel Star City – not least because of the return of some very familiar characters.
The new spin-off, which stars Anna Maxwell Martin and Rhys Ifans, will go back in time to imagine what might have happened had the Soviet Union won the space race.
One of the most prominent figures returning from the original show is Irina Morozova, the ruthless KGB handler. While she was initially played by Svetlana Efremova, Agnes O’Casey has taken on the younger version of the character for the spin-off.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, O’Casey teased: “We’re meeting her at a point where she’s completely innocent to the world that she finds herself in.
“We meet her at a point where she thinks that the right thing morally will be the right thing at work. I guess she very quickly realises that that’s not the case!”
O’Casey added that she “definitely” took inspiration from Efremova’s performance, adding: “I think she’s brilliant.”
However, she added: “But then I quickly found out from Matt [Wolpert] and Ben [Nedivi, co-creators] that the Irina that we were meeting wasn’t going to be confident, definitely wasn’t going to be glamorous.
“When I watched Svetlana, I was like, ‘Okay, cool, here we go! She loves brutality, she…’ and they were like, ‘No.’ And that’s so fun.
“It’s also dramatically fun when you know where she’s going and where she begins, because the Irina that I’m playing, and then Svetlana, there’s worlds to go, which is exciting.”
Creators Wolpert and Nedivi previously opened up to Radio Times about the “complicated” process of recasting characters from the original show.
“It was certainly complicated because obviously we love the actors who played the older versions of them,” Wolpert said.
“But honestly, we looked at it as an opportunity to find the younger versions of them, and it was so important to find actors who captured the essence of those characters. With Sergei, Josef Davies brilliantly captures that intelligence and that warm-heartedness of Sergei Nikulov.
“And for Irina Morozova, what was fascinating was, when we meet her in For All Mankind, she’s this kind of cold, powerful woman, and getting to show the kind of the younger version of her who isn’t that at all, and seeing the journey of her and how she became that woman is something that, creatively, we’re really excited to tell.”
Star City will premiere on Apple TV on Friday 29 May. Start your seven-day free Apple TV trial at Apple.
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