Prepare yourself for an action-packed thrill ride this Thursday night; new spy thriller Hunted - a collaboration between the BBC and US cable network Cinemax - is making its UK debut. Created by X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz, the show is pitched somewhere between Spooks and 24.

Hunted stars Melissa George - the veteran of such US series as Alias, In Treatment and Grey's Anatomy - in the lead role of Sam Hunter, a security operative who returns to work after surviving an assassination attempt which may have been organised by one of her co-workers...

On a trip to London, the Australian actress spoke to assembled journalists - including Digital Spy - about her action-packed role, the tough physical training required for the show and how her spy skills have helped her out in real life!

What sort of person is Sam Hunter?

"I think from the age of 8 years old when she had her mother killed in front of her, she's become a very different Sam Hunter than maybe how she would have turned out if her mother were still alive. I think she became very defensive; she became a spy to find her mother's killer... I think that's one of the reasons.



"She is a very good spy... and she takes it very seriously. In the opening scene in Morocco, you see someone try to kill her. Now she has two things going on in her life - being a spy is a hobby for her, I really believe that. Going to back to [private security agency] Byzantium, it's like, 'I need a job', but really she's focused on who tried to kill her.

"I think that makes her very strong - the fighting in the show is very real, so it's weird because I think the line between Sam and me has become confused, even for me. It was so real when we were shooting that I couldn't figure out... was it Melissa doing [the fighting] or was it Sam?

"She's also vulnerable to a point - she can't show that in front of her co-workers, but you see a maternal side. She's a lot of things - she's very troubled, but so she should be with what she's been through."

Where do we find Sam when Hunted begins?

"You see her in Morocco at the top of her game - she uses her sexuality a little bit [in her work] and why not, I guess? I read it and I was like, 'Oh, okay, I knew that was coming!'



"You see the stuff with her boyfriend [Adam Rayner's fellow spy Aidan], and she's obviously pregnant with his child. Then you see her on a mission that goes terribly wrong...

"From then on... she's getting tough and getting her strength back, and then she just drops by [at Byzantium]. My idea was for her to always put her feet on the table in Byzantium, because she doesn't give a s**t, but I don't think that's going to [be in the final show] - they didn't want that, [she has to show] a little bit of respect!"

Kudos

How did you become involved in Hunted originally?

"When you do TV as an actress you have to be careful - as it could potentially be long-term - so a couple of things go through your mind. Who's going to be the showrunner? Who's writing it? Who are you working with? Do you love the character enough that you're going to live her for the next five years?



"I personally get off on playing complex leading ladies - which I loved when I did The Slap, and In Treatment - because in my own life I'm not that. I'm a loving sister, daughter and girlfriend, so why would I want to play that when I play that in all my life?

"It's just the way I run my career - [for this show] I was walking in New York and my agent called me and said, 'We have this script for you and you better get it, that's all I'm saying'. I was like, 'Thanks no pressure!'

"When I recorded one scene for Frank [as an audition], I pressed play and I just got choked up, saying 'I know she's been through a lot, this girl, and I know I can do it' - I've never tried to impress anyone so much before as when I met Frank - I was pulling all the tricks out!

"When I pressed 'cut' on the tape, I was just like, 'I hope I'm this girl, I would love it'. Then [shooting starts and] reality hits and everyone is in pain, and you're like, 'This is not normal, is it?' and the BBC and HBO are like 'No, this is a lot for one girl'. But I'm an Australian girl, so we're ready to go!"

Kudos

Does it feel different acting in an epic spy thriller like this, as opposed to something more intimate and small like In Treatment?

"Yeah, it does, because In Treatment was almost like meditation. You had to sit there and allow the human interaction to play out. This was like a blur between [large and small]... in the first 20 minutes, it's all inside her - there isn't a lot of talking.



"But there's a lot of disruption in my life as well. I was constantly uprooting and going to a street in London, then going to Tangiers and then a back alley somewhere, so the show itself was difficult, but also to keep my energy up with chopping and changing locations... that was a lot."

How much training was required for the role of Sam?

"I worked on my core training in New York with my trainer - we did almost like gladiator training with a cart. I had two ropes around my wrist and had this cart with steel weights in the back and was just pulling it from one end of the gym to the other and it was really hard.



"They gave me steel balls and I felt like I was in the movie Gladiator - I was like, 'Are you kidding me right now?'. They'd throw it at my stomach and I'd have to catch it, fall back onto a mat and then throw it whilst I was doing a sit-up!

"Then when I got to London, I had a team of five street fighters to teach me - they taught Bond, Bourne and Batman and they're very capable men - and I'm the only woman who's been taught this fighting technique called Keysi.

"I did a month of Keysi training. The fight you see in Morocco is all me and I was very much ready for it. I'm not so much ready today - I'm going to go to Harrods and have tea later in my stilettos!"

Kudos

You sustained some injures while filming as well, right?

"Yeah, my right wrist and my left hip. I got really injured, and the stunt men got really injured too. I also developed a new muscle in my wrist - It's like Popeye, you can move it! That's not very me! I was developing muscles that nobody gets - I had an elbow muscle!



"I was walking in Manhattan at night in the Lower East Side at night, and I felt like I was in-character a bit. A funny thing happened in Harrods actually - I was in a queue and this vase was falling - it fell, and I caught it like one inch before it hit the ground.

"The guy knew I was an actress and he said, 'What role are you playing right now?'. I said a spy, and everyone in the line was laughing! Certain roles prepare you for certain things in life, like vases in Harrods!"

The role is so action-led - do you like to challenge gender stereotypes and take roles that men would usually play?

"I think so - I never get the girl next door or the loving wife."



Would you like to play those kinds of roles?

"Yeah - I like Downton Abbey, y'know! But I doubt you'd see Sam Hunter in that show, running through, 'Quick everyone, duck down, she's going to take you down!'



"When I used to watch films, I used to love seeing classic-looking women in situations where they don't belong. To me, it's fascinating, [like], 'What is she doing there?' When I see Sam Hunter in some moments I think she doesn't belong there, but it's fun to watch her get out of that situation - and it's also thrilling as an actress.

"It's weird when you take on a role - you have to be very careful because it's going to become you and you're going to lose it! It's not [just] a pay cheque - you've got to love it and hopefully people see on screen that you love it and it's not just a job."

Hunted begins this Thursday at 9pm on BBC One. In the US, the series airs from October 19 on Cinemax.

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