When Idris Elba boards a Berlin U-Bahn as Sam Nelson on January 14, he will return to a world of hostages and extreme danger. The only question this time will be: what state is Sam in and can he still save the day?
Speaking to Deadline in London late last year, the star and executive producer of the Apple TV thriller series spoke about the mindset of Nelson, a talented business negotiator and ordinary worker who becomes an unlikely hero after a plane hijacking in season 1.
As season 2 begins, subway travelers are taken hostage and the authorities scramble to save hundreds of lives. Nelson is at the heart of the crisis on board, as German and British authorities scramble to avert disaster. Toby Jones, Christian Näthe and Christiane Paul join the cast, with Christine Adams, Max Beesley and Archie Panjabi among the recurring cast.
“We really thought about what we answered in Season 1 and what questions were left unanswered,” Elba said. “What happened to Sam? Is he okay? He saved a lot of lives and suffered a lot of trauma.
“Psychologically, I was trying to put him in a very different place. Physically, there’s a difference in his appearance compared to Season 1 and that was intentional. When you find out what happens throughout the season, you realize that he’s a broken man trying to find these answers.”
It’s fair to say that Nelson is a different type of main character than the ones Elba is known for, like the BBC’s Detective John Luther and the Netflix detective franchise. Luther or Stringer Bell in the HBO drama The thread.
“The main characters often have a lot of real estate to defend,” he said of the role, which earned him an Emmy nomination for the first time. “I’m lucky to have these really great characters that audiences don’t shy away from watching for a long time. In this case, it’s very different from some of the other characters: he’s a broken guy.”
Jim Field Smith, the series’ lead director and co-creator alongside George Kay, also offered insight into Nelson’s state of mind at the start of the series.
“Our guiding principle with Sam was that I wanted him to start Season 2 with a completely different character from the Sam Nelson that you left behind,” he said. “In the very first frame when the camera focuses on him this season, you’re supposed to think, ‘What happened to that guy?'”
Field Smith and Elba both serve as executive producers for Divert Season 2 alongside Kay, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta and Tom Nash. 60Forty Films and Idiotlamp Productions are co-producing. They both spoke about the extreme measures the production design team took to recreate the U-Bahn in East London, UK.
“I wanted it to be a perfect replica,” Field Smith said. “It couldn’t have been easier to film, and part of it was because I knew I wanted to film in real Berlin. It had to match. It had to be a literally millimeter-perfect recreation, so that was a big challenge.”
Elba called the construction of the large-scale train a “massive” feat that helped create a more dynamic filming environment than the relatively static situation of a hijacked plane. “There were a lot of people on the train,” he added. “There is a lot of movement in and out of trains, doors, [and] movement along. There’s a lot going on.
Field Smith said the production gave Elba “essentially free reign over the whole environment” and allowed management to follow him through the different sociological makeups of the different cars. Additionally, filming underground allowed the story to explore how a major metropolitan city such as Berlin would respond to a hostage situation, particularly if it had an international element and British authorities were also involved.
“It’s such a rich area that we would have been crazy not to look into it a little bit,” added Field Smith, a British director with credits for The bad man, Criminal And Litvinenko who grew up in Berlin.
He wanted to emphasize the international character of the show. “One of the great things about Season 1 is that we had a really good global response,” he said. “There was an international aspect in the sense that there was a plane that took off from Dubai and flew over all these countries, and you have their answers and how the British government deals with that. In season 2, the train stays in one city, and you really have to bring the internationality to the show. There’s an appetite for the audience to see stories that take place in multiple countries. What’s great about it [Hijack] does it have that layered look.
Apple TV relationship
Divert Season 1 was developed and produced as part of Elba’s first deal with Apple through his previous production house, Green Door. The deal ended in 2023, but Season 2 kept both men in business. We asked him for his opinion on such transactions after his experience.
“There are some really good, healthy examples of building engagement between the creator and the studio,” he said. “In this case, this contract produced something really healthy. I hope they are happy with it. I did, of course.
“I don’t think it works for everything; these days, creation can take many forms. I really enjoyed working with – and still work with – Apple, and I enjoy that process. In a healthy deal, [a first-look agreement] is a truly wonderful space. I felt really lucky to have a guaranteed distribution opportunity and some support to make it happen.
Following DivertStarting with Sam’s launch on January 14, one episode will air one week until March 4, when Sam’s fate – and that of the hostages – will be revealed. It remains to be seen whether this will be the case for the character. Elba and Field Smith suggest that this will be the end, but they leave the door slightly ajar – just in case more civilians need rescuing.
“I don’t know if Sam Nelson is going to take another form of transportation in his life,” Field Smith joked. “Season 3 might just be him in a hotel room relaxing.”
Elba – who was recently knighted in the UK’s New Year’s Honors List – also played down the idea, laughing and joking that a third run would simply see the psychologically damaged character on a Lime bike – the pay-to-play bikes that litter London’s roads.
“I think we’ve squeezed the juice out of the carrier,” he said, before dangling a little carrot. “Who knows, there are ferries,” he joked. “There’s definitely a feeling that we love Sam Nelson’s character and there’s another iteration of his story that I can think of – for sure. It might be a movie, who knows?”
