Have you ever wondered if time travel is real? The Lazarus Project explores what life would be like for some people if it was. It follows a secret organization called The Lazarus Project that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world is on the brink of extinction. They have always put aside their personal feelings and experiences, keeping the fate of the world as their number one priority.
Paapa Essiedu (also seen in I May Destroy You) plays George, a new recruit who challenges everything the organization stands for when someone he loves faces harm. Season 1 premieres on TNT June 4 with the first of 8 episodes, and the series has already become a hit overseas. In fact, The Lazarus Project season 2 has already wrapped filming and is likely to come hot on the heels of season 1.
FilmmakerFocus sat down with Paapa Essiedu to discuss the series, and his character, George. He revealed what makes The Lazarus Project different from other sci-fi series, what it was like to return for season 2, and how excited he is for Americans to get to experience it. Paapa also spoke about the incredible stunts the team does and what he would go back and change if he could time travel in real life.
Paapa Essiedu Talks The Lazarus Project
FilmmakerFocus: How would you describe George?
Paapa Essiedu: George is essentially an every man character. He’s relatable. He’s your friend next door. He’s doing a very normal job, and then he finds himself in an extraordinary situation in the fact that he’s invited into this international organization that have got this power to do something that’s never been done before. Hopefully there’s something easily relatable about him. Like, he could be me. He could be my partner. He could be my brother, or my sister. It could be one of us, and what would we do if we were in that situation?
FilmmakerFocus: How would you react if you just kept waking up, and it was the same day?
Paapa Essiedu: You would freak out. It’s that thing of like, you’ve been so certain that your version or your outlook on the world is true. No one else been able to sign up for that. There’s nothing more frustrating than that. It’s like when you know something in your deepest bones is right and no one else agrees with you. There’s no frustration like that, you know? I think he gets a lot of validation when finally he meets with other people, even though it takes him down on a road that maybe is less chill than what he was on before.
FilmmakerFocus: Have you filmed The Lazarus Project season 2 yet?
Paapa Essiedu: Yeah. We wrapped on season 2 a few months ago, so it’s all in the can and now being edited together. We’re really excited for it to be even bigger and better than season 1. So get watching season 1, because season 2 is coming hot on its heels. We premiered season 1 about a year ago over here. It was great to get the gang back together and to hear and see these new ideas and stories come to life. It’s deepened and expanded the world.
FilmmakerFocus: Without spoilers, what were you most excited about when you were reading the script?
Paapa Essiedu: I was really excited about the cast of actors that they put together on this. Some of my favorite actors in this country are working on this show. Tom Burke, Anjli Mohindra, Charly Clive, Rudi Dharmalingam. These are seasoned vets, and they all bring such specific and varied and unique qualities to the show to make it more than just your classic Sci-Fi or classic drama. There’s something really special about the actors, and they push me and I push them. We become really close as a result. I think that’s probably the thing I was most looking forward to.
FilmmakerFocus: It must have been so great to get back together with everybody and have that time to film.
Paapa Essiedu: It’s like getting to work with your friends every day. There are highs and lows. When you’re working on shows like this, it’s not always the case that you get on, or even respect the people that you’re working with, or that they respect to you. We felt very blessed to be given the cast and the crew that we did.
About The Lazarus Project
George is the latest recruit to The Lazarus Project – a secret organization that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world is on the brink of extinction. George and his colleagues are the few people on Earth with the ability to remember the events that are undone when time goes back. But when a freak accident harms someone close to George, Lazarus won’t let him turn back time to undo it unless there is the threat of global extinction. Now George must choose to stay loyal or go rogue as he faces the question: if you had the power to re-write your past, what would you sacrifice to do it?
Check back soon for our other The Lazarus Project interviews here:
- Anjli Mohindra
The Lazarus Project season 1 will premiere Sunday, June 4 on TNT.
Character count made repeatable.
