ITV hit drama Trigger Point, starring Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, Alex Rider) as Explosives Officer, or Expo, Lana Washington, along with Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) as her antagonist, is back on U.K. screens for season 3.
And so are Nabil Elouahabi (Blue Lights, Unforgotten) as Hassan “Hass” Rahim and Eric Shango (On the Edge) as Danny. The two teammates of Lana’s have navigated all sorts of drama so far, and the more cinematic season 3 of Trigger Point, produced by Jed Mercurio’s (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) HTM Television, in association with All3Media International, is bringing new challenges for them.
Shango and Elouahabi talked to THR‘s Georg Szalai about the experience of working on one of ITV’s biggest hits and what this season has in store for their characters.
As Lana, Vicky is surrounded by a real ensemble cast that you two are key parts of. What are the key themes and issues facing each of your characters in season 3? Eric, Danny is now a newlywed, right?And Hass was the team leader while Lana had a leave of absence before.
Shango In this season, there are changes for everybody. Danny, having been married at the end of season 2, is now progressing with family life and just weighing up whether a career as dangerous as this one is something that’s viable for his family. And then, naturally, it is about how that plays out and affects Lana’s journey.
Elouahabi For Hass, he now has to rebuild his life. There’s going to be a period where work becomes his refuge, a place where he can hide from his real life. He loves the structure, he loves the camaraderie, he feels in safe hands.
How was shooting seasons 3 and 4 back-to-back for you?
Elouahabi Do you remember Twister? It’s like playing Twister. You really need to remember where you’re going, because otherwise you’re going to confuse yourself.
Shango Because we don’t shoot in chronological order, it does make it difficult to film things that you haven’t felt yet or been through yet as a character.
And the physical demand on our bodies and our minds is quite significant. But we’re blessed to do this job. It’s so enjoyable when the cast and the crew get on so well, and there’s a real family feel.
Elouahabi I’ve never done two [seasons] back-to-back, and it definitely creates very intense pressure. But in a good way, because we all get on so well, and everyone brings their own ingredients [for success].
It would probably be hell if you were doing it back-to-back, and it wasn’t cohesive, and it didn’t feel safe. This was the first time on this show that I really did feel very emotional, much more emotional than I had on other shows when we [wrapped season 4]. There are just friendships that have developed and become deeper. It’s family now.
Shango We didn’t take it for granted to be working with each other for that long. We know that it’s an experience that seldom happens, and for those reasons, we cherished the time that we spent together.
Yeah, what we’re doing has its challenges, but it’s made easier, and it’s supplemented by the people – and I mean not just the cast but also the crew.
The crew is such a major part. It’s a shame that you can’t see them all. It was everybody putting their arms around everybody. It feels like everybody just held everybody.
Can you guys switch off a bit in between all these tense and dramatic scenes?
Shango Yeah, unless you have something quite significant to prepare for the next scene. I think part of being an actor is having the ability to do what most people can’t, which is, switch on and switch off. That’s part of the training.
Elouahabi I’ve played parts that were quite intense and kind of stayed with me, but with something like Trigger Point, thankfully, the situations are tense, but character-wise, there is nothing untoward, nothing nasty that stays with you.
What are some of the hardest scenes in this show?
Shango This show is quite a physical but also a cerebral show. The physical element is the running, the carrying, the driving, the constant repetition of physical activity that eventually, when filming for 10 hours a day, begins to take its toll. And the uniforms and all are real in terms of the load that we carry physically. So that is obviously always very, very difficult and demanding.
The cerebral element is something that we can only really digest in post[-production] when we can really begin to grasp the full feeling of a scene.
Anything else you would like to highlight?
Elouahabi The thing that I really want to highlight is that the crew really makes this show. I know people say that. But they are really unsung heroes.
Shango Yes! And I also want to give a shoutout to all the Expos that are actually doing this on a day-to-day basis, and the people who worked with us behind the scenes to make sure that we were delivering the right job.
