Discussing their new Netflix series 3 Body Problem, Alex Sharp, Jess Hong, John Bradley, Eiza González and Jovan Adepo talked characters, the dynamic of The Oxford 5, learning just the right amount of physics lingo, and what it was like to shoot all those virtual reality scenes during a recent conversation with Audacy.
WATCH NOW: Alex Sharp, Jess Hong, and John Bradley discuss their roles in '3 Body Problem' on Netflix with Megan Holiday.
No spoilers, but just for context —the basic 3 Body Problem synopsis reads — “Across continents and decades, five brilliant friends make earth-shattering discoveries as the laws of science unravel and an existential threat emerges.” In the series, inspired by the internationally celebrated novel The Three-Body Problem, and from creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, “a young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time into the present day. When the laws of nature inexplicably unravel before their eyes, a close-knit group of brilliant scientists join forces with an unorthodox detective to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”
During their interview with Audacy’s Megan Holiday, 3 out of the Oxford 5, Alex, Jess and John, who play Will Downing, Jin Cheng and Jack Rooney, respectively were asked who they think is the most like their character, and they all agreed, that title definitely goes to John.
Noting that when shows creators' David and Dan first told him about the part, “they said that the character that I’m gonna play is the most like myself that I’ll ever play.”
"They wrote the part for me,” John continued, “and having known them for 10 years through shooting 'Game of Thrones' they kind of got a good handle on what I’m like as a person. So yeah, they they basically gave me license to pretty much play myself and bring a lot of my own personally into that role.”
Adding his thoughts on who he thinks out of the three is least like their character, John said, “Alex… because I think Will is so downtrodden and so downbeat and downcast and Alex is much more positive and much more outgoing and much more confident person.”
Talking about her incredible, genius, super-driven, caring character Jin, Jess said, “I think, even though she is super ambitious, highly intellectual genius of her generation, she wears her heart on her sleeve and she just loves her friends, cares about them so much. So even though she’s a hard science snob, like ‘we’re gonna get to the bottom of this, we’re gonna get the answers,’ she actually goes through the world leading from her heart and from her gut, she follows her instincts.” Jen went on to note that because of that, Jin “sometimes acts before she thinks,” making sure to note, and “then she backs up the facts, of course. I wish I had an ounce of her bravery.”
The trio also chatted about learning physics lingo, and what it was like shoot all those VR scenes. To get all the scoop, check out the entire interview above.
To also discuss the epic sci-fi drama, the other 2 of The Oxford 5, Eiza, who plays Auggie Salazar and Jovan, who plays Saul Durand, sat down for a chat with Audacy’s Ian Camfield.
WATCH NOW: Eiza González and Jovan Adepo discuss their roles in '3 Body Problem' on Netflix with Ian Camfield.
Like Alex, Jess and John, the duo also chatted about the virtual reality aspects of the show, and learning how to sound like you know about physics, without having to actually learn physics. Additionally, Jovan delved into his character, sharing he was drawn to Saul because he was an underdog.
“If I ever have the opportunity to seek out a character, I usually tend to look for underdogs," Jovan expressed, "it’s just because I feel like your always wanna root for the guy who is not always upfront and in front of everybody’s face.”
“Saul, he has so much potential and I think that his friends, his closest friends, see it, they just wish there was a way that he could find it himself. To try to have a successful, or whatever that means to him. So it was an exciting opportunity to play that within the core of The Oxford 5.”
Despite all of its epic sci-fi, drama, and mind-bending, timeline-expanding aspects, the dynamic of The Oxford 5 and their human relationships, is really the core of the show.
Noting that DAD (David, Alex, and D.B.) “don’t confine to the traditional dynamics,” Eiza expressed, “Yeah, in the beginning of the show we meet them and there’s history between them and they all went to school together and you know.” But things “can change and that’s fine. Like things changing, relationships fracturing or reconnecting, or belief systems sort of getting in the way of relationships, friendship or relations. It’s a natural process in life and I think that it really depicts it in a nice realistic way, versus this sort of like this ‘we’re all best friends,’” she said sarcastically, “‘let’s fight for the world,’ like that not a realistic version of it.”
To hear the whole conversation, press play on the interview above.
3 Body Problem is available to stream now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.