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The Rig’s stars Emily Hampshire and Iain Glen have expressed concern the events unfolding in the Amazon Prime drama aren’t worlds away from reality.
The thriller, which also stars Martin Compston, follows a group of oil rig workers stationed in the North Sea off the Scottish coast, who became stranded when they are shrouded by a mysterious fog.
But as the scientist Rose (Hampshire) sets about discovering what is driving the apocalyptic weather conditions, members of the team become infected by it, causing them to have supernatural visions.
The ensuing drama focuses on mankind’s relationship with nature, with rig worker Alwyn (Mark Bonnar) summing it up as: ‘If you keep punching the Earth, it’s going to punch back.’
Reflecting on the idea of man-provoked environmental catastrophe explored in The Rig, Schitt’s Creek star Emily, 41, replied: ‘What I do like about it, though, is that the supernatural aspect of it is based in real science.
And so for me, I find that much more interesting, because it’s kind of like Black Mirror in the way that the technology on that is just the future.
Emily Hampshire plays scientist and oil company rep Rose in The Rig (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)
‘And so this [The Rig] feels like this could happen I mean, it’s crazy, but it could happen.’
Line of Duty star Martin, 38, commented that the idea the events in The Rig, despite being supernatural, are believable is what makes ‘high drama.’
‘It’s when you find something with a grain of truth, and then you turn it up to 11,’ he explained. ‘You just go, “Let’s go full force.”
Martin Compston said there was a ‘grain of truth’ to The Rig (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)
‘But everything was a little grain of truth at the startup, I think when it’s grounded in some sort of reality audiences grab onto it.’
Explaining that The Rig has an ‘ecological tone’ throughout its six episodes, Game Thrones’ Iain, described the fog as having an ‘eerie plausability.’
The 61-year-old continued: ‘Basically nature is throwing back at the people who are working on The Rig and there are very real reasons as to why that’s been caused to happen.
Iain Glen described The Rig as having an ‘eerie plausibility’ (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)
‘It has a kind of integrity about it and I’m hoping that the supernatural element is not just [woo woo] as the more they try and find out why the fog is there, the things that start happening get truly scary and manifest in bizarre ways. And not only to the things around them but to people themselves.
‘There is, I think, an eerie plausibility as to why it’s happening. And so throughout the whole thing, although, I hope you’re on the edge of the seat saying, “Oh, my goodness, what’s going to happen next?” there is that sense we all feel a little bit.
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Iain alluded to that ‘sense’ being environmental disaster as climate change worsens, with Europe having had the hottest summer on record last year.
He added: ‘It sounds a bit odd, but on really, really warm autumnal days, I think, “Something’s not quite right”. There’s that element within The Rig.’
The Rig is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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Iain Glen described The Rig as having an ‘eerie plausibility.’
