Charlie Hunnam on Shantaram Illness, “Destroy” Back for Rebel Moon – The Hollywood Reporter

“I feel fine,” Charlie Hunnam said with a smile (and an asterisk) as he hit the red carpet Monday night outside Westwood’s Bruin Theater, hosting the world premiere of his new Apple TV+ series Shantaram.

The asterisk is necessary because Hunnam’s emotional state is understandably layered, especially on the eve of this long-drawn-out series based on Gregory David Robert’s 2003 blockbuster novel that is finally being seen by the world. Shantaram Hunnam stars as Lin Ford, a fugitive fugitive who escapes to Bombay, India, where he gets lost among the city’s vibrant characters in its often mysterious and seedy underbelly.

“When I’m done and the track is done, I’ve already gone through the highs and lows,” Hunnam explained to The Hollywood Reporter on the series, produced for the streamer by Paramount Television Studios and AC Studios of Anonymous Content. “I’ve already rated it on what we did well and what we didn’t do well, so it’s a little surreal to finally be here because I’ve been in this for so long I don’t know how to feel. . I actually feel numb tonight, maybe a little emotionless.”

He quickly clarified: “I’m excited for the world to see it, but after seven years I think I’m saying it’s more personal to me than sharing it with the outside world and I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

He still has a few days to process. Shantaram will make its worldwide debut on Apple TV+ with the release of the first three episodes of the 12-episode first season on October 14. A new episode will then appear weekly until December 16. Steve Lightfoot leads the charge as co-creator, writer and executive producer alongside executive producers Nicole Clemens, Andrea Barron, Justin Kurzel and the late Steve Golin. Eric Warren Singer, who was previously hired as creator and showrunner before Lightfoot took over, will also receive an executive producer credit.

It would take a novel length text to describe the backstory of the bringing in detail Shantaram to the screen. Over the years, everyone has Johnny Depp and Joel Edgerton to filmmakers Peter Weir and Mira Nairo were included for a feature film version. Then, in 2018, Paramount and Anonymous took over adaptation rights as soon as they became available, giving singer and director Justin Kurzel the lead role in the Hunnam-starring series. However, after two episodes were shot, the show went on hiatus and Singer was replaced by Lightfoot in a complete creative overhaul.

Hunnam says the richness of Roberts’ stories has made it such a hot item. “It’s an extraordinary journey for a man who goes through darkness to find light, and there’s action, adventure, romance and the exciting strange nature of the environments,” said the actor, who has not been on a TV series since. played. Sons of Lawlessness. “All things [Shantaram] surfaced are the same things I found compelling to explore in my own life. When I first read this book, I thought a lot about God, about philosophy and psychology, and about my experience in the world. These are all topics that Greg writes about and he really swings at the gates. Not only did he set himself the task of telling an extraordinary story and delivering compelling drama as the story progressed, but he also set himself the task of figuring out the meaning of life through this text, you know? What is the nature of God? If God exists, what is God?”

Hunnam continued, “Thematically, it was just an incredible playground to spend time in and around trying to understand the things I want to spend my life on.”

However, the playground was not always the healthiest place to play.

During his conversation with THR on Monday, Hunnam, who spent a lot of time talking to all the media on the red carpet, about battling a serious array of health issues, opened first on Shantaram and continue with his current project, Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon.

“When I was in India, I got a bacterial intestinal infection, a viral intestinal infection, an acute respiratory infection. I had conjunctivitis in both eyes, an ear infection and dengue from a mosquito bite,’ Hunnam said, shaking off the illnesses without missing a beat.

That’s another reason why an asterisk is needed when Hunnam says he’s feeling good. Because as he walked the red carpet with a smile, he wasn’t exactly feeling great due to a recent injury he sustained while filming Snyder’s Rebel Moon.

“I just finished the Zack Snyder movie and got injured again. I have a fully exploded S1 and S2 that are ripped wide, one hundred percent dehydrated,” Hunnam said of the injuries to areas affecting the hips and groin area (for S1) and the back of the thighs (for S2). two years to heal and I have a 40 percent tear in the ligament on the right side that holds my spine in place.”

But as he says, “The show must go on.”

“I’m getting to a point where I’m less tolerant of injury and more eager to try and find ways to prevent that and mitigate the progress. But the fearless nature of these experiences goes hand in hand with the stories that appeal to me, so it’s kind of part of the territory.”

Asked how he sustained the injury? Rebel MoonHunnam said it happened while he was preparing for the part in the project, the details of which are closely guarded.

“It was no one’s fault,” he said. “I was training really hard for some major physical requirements that I had to do, but I had lost a lot of weight and hadn’t really trained during COVID for a few years. So when I really went back to an aggressive regimen while not listening to my body or giving myself enough time to rest and get as big as possible as fast as I could, my back just ended.”

If only compliments could help him heal, Hunnam would be well on his way. To be Shantaram employees had no problem spreading love up and down their leading man.

Paramount TV president Clemens, who got her first executive producer credit on the series after first developing it during her tenure at Anonymous, called Hunnam “the absolute best number one on a call list you could ever have.”

“Charlie is Lin,” Clemens added. “I think people will be blown away by his performance. Who he is and what he stands for fits very well with the spirit of his character and it really shows through. He’s a phenomenal leader and a great, great man.”

Veteran actor and Shantaram co-star Vincent Perez agrees. “I love the actor and I love the man. He is an incredible soul and someone who is always open, always very generous. I was also amazed by the way he works and his commitment. For eight or nine months, every day, he was always focused, always informed. Then we built a relationship outside the set and became friends. He’s a great soul and there’s something really spiritual and very special about him.”

Lightfoot added: “Charlie was strapped in when I came on board. He was one of the draws to me because on the one hand he has this great mix of dynamism and mischief, and on the other hand has a real willingness to go to very emotional, vulnerable places that his character required. He did so great.”

Now the question is, will he keep doing it? Everyone has been mum on whether plans for season two are already in the works, but it’s clear they all hope so.

“We did the best we could with the first season, against some insurmountable odds,” Hunnam said. “We did some things really, really well and captured some magic. There are some things we could do better if we had a chance to go back to season two and the hope is that we can continue to tell the story the way it wants to be told, whether that’s in 10, 20, or 30 hours . One thing is clear: this text has an energy of its own and asks to be told the way it wants to be told.”

(LR) Elektra Kilbey, Charlie Hunnam, Antonia Desplat and Shubham Saraf attend the Apple TV+ Original Series

Shantaram with Elektra Kilbey, Charlie Hunnam, Antonia Desplat and Shubham Saraf

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Steve Lightfoot attends the Apple TV+ Original Series

Showrunner Steve Lightfoot on the biggest challenges the production faced: “When we arrived in Thailand, we were hit by a thunderstorm out of nowhere and we lost four hours. We need to figure out how to get that back in a day. Oddly enough, because it was something that we couldn’t control or quantify, that was probably the hardest thing we had to deal with.”

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Nicole Clemens attends the Apple TV+ Original Series

Paramount TV chief Nicole Clemens said she hopes the series will resonate with global viewers because it “comes at the right time.” She added: “The themes are relevant today in terms of globalization and also how it speaks to empathy and the connection between people. I’m hopeful it’s coming out now. I really believe timing is everything and things work out.” manifest at the right time.”

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