Inside Bong Joon-ho’s new ‘Snowpiercer’ TV present

Korean director Bong Joon-ho grew to become Hollywood’s darling as his film “Parasite” swept the Oscars this 12 months. Now, considered one of his earlier works is hitting the small display as a TV present.

The dystopian drama “Snowpiercer,” which premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday on TNT, is predicated on Joon-ho’s 2013 film of the identical title, starring Chris Evans.

“It was fairly nice [to watch Joon-ho’s star rise during awards season],” says “The Individuals” actress Alison Wright, 43, who co-stars within the “Snowpiercer” collection. “Everybody was very enthusiastic about it. ‘Parasite’ was an enormous hit.”

The “Snowpiercer” present, which additionally co-stars Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, is about in a close to future the place Earth is generally frozen. The surviving members of humanity stay on a large practice consisting of 1,001 automobiles which are extremely segregated in accordance with class — the rich and elite are on the entrance of the practice whereas the poor are within the again, which is known as the “tail.”

To be able to obtain the look of the lengthy practice, the present, which was filmed in Vancouver, usually linked the totally different set items.

“They constructed a lot of these automobiles,” says Wright. “Quite a lot of them have been in separate segments, however there have been elements that have been joined up a number of automobiles at a time in order that we may run the size generally. So there have been elements of the set that have been actually, actually lengthy — like 5 – 6 practice automobiles at a time. It’s a really thrilling story with so many alternative slices of humanity that at the moment are all caught on this transferring piece of steel. The thought of all of them having to outlive collectively in such shut quarters being from so many alternative walks of life was tremendous attention-grabbing.”

The film (on Netflix) follows Curtis (Chris Evans) as he leads a bloody revolution from the again of the practice to the entrance. The present has an extended story — so though tail-dweller Andre Layton (Diggs) has revolutionary aspirations, he should first assist the practice’s hospitality workforce resolve a homicide.

Wright’s character, Ruth, co-runs hospitality with Melanie (Connelly). They work for the mysterious Mr. Wilford, whose firm owns the practice.

“Melanie is the cool, calm and picked up good face of hospitality,” says Wright. “After which Ruth is just like the shadow facet of hospitality. She’s very simply flustered, extremely strung and insecure, and is a good believer in Mr. Wilford. She’s a zealot of his and completely satisfied that he’s our savior and needs to do his bidding fully. She thinks he’s the bee’s knees.”

For Wright, who’s a British-born New Yorker (residing in Harlem), working with Connelly was a childhood dream come true.

“ ‘Labyrinth’ is considered one of my favourite movies ever, so it was all the time the David Bowie soundtrack happening in my head every time I’d see her. And I might simply attempt to play it cool.”

Even when the frozen futuristic wasteland of “Snowpiercer” is new, the present’s themes of sophistication warfare and the politics of survival will really feel acquainted to viewers of “Parasite.”

“It’s an important alternative inside the story to have a look at how we deal with one another and the way we deal with those who we resolve needs to be in a sure field,” says Wright. “While you dehumanize individuals like that and put them in a sure class, you cease seeing them as individuals and so they’re simply numbers … just like the individuals within the tail, or within the totally different lessons all through the practice … it may be a harmful factor.”

Though Joon-ho is an govt producer on the present, he was a distant presence.

“He was very hands-off, sadly,” says Wright, who calls herself a “massive fan” of the filmmaker. “[We had] no interplay by any means. I by no means met him. Hopefully someday!”