A taste of real-life danger was experienced by many of The Rig’s actors while filming the Prime Video thriller – including Martin Compston being “on fire a lot”.
His co-stars Iain Glen and Mark Bonnar told of the perils of shooting the paranormal drama in a purpose-built studio set – including being saved from terrifying falls by safety harnesses and from hypothermia by vigilant medical staff.
“Martin – we couldn’t put him out at one point,” said Glen. “He was on fire a lot,” laughed Bonnar.
Glen and Bonnar recounted their brushes with mortality while working on the series – set on a North Sea oil installation – with laughter, but obvious relief that everyone emerged unscathed.
Of course, capturing the true atmosphere of life offshore was always going to be a huge challenge for the cast and crew of The Rig, which streams on Prime Video from Friday January 6.
It goes without saying that shooting on location wasn’t a realistic option – but how about a visit to an operating rig, to get a feel for the real deal?
Out of the question, according to Glen, who takes on the role of the fictional Kinloch Bravo’s offshore installation manager, Magnus MacMillan. “You wouldn’t be getting the approval from any oil company,” he said, “They’re very, very nervous, particularly currently, about how they’re being portrayed.”
Add to that the small matter of a global pandemic, at its height during production, and the odds were somewhat stacked against the six-part TV programme about supernatural happenings at sea, which also stars Martin Compston and Emily Hampshire.
Yet, dedication to detail and impressive visual effects will leave most viewers struggling to believe the series was made entirely in Edinburgh.
A triple-storey set and incredible VFX
“They built this triple-storey set, which blew us away when we saw it, and it evolved. It’s amazing what happened to it on a week-by-week basis,” explained Glen.
“The majority of time on a rig is spent inside – you’re not outside unless you need to be, and there are certain roles that perform outside, but the majority of roles don’t. So, a studio, for the vast majority of it, made complete sense.”
“It has to be said that the VFX department has done an incredible job as well,” added castmate, Bonnar, who portrays rig worker Alwyn Evans. “I only know from my time as a gamer over the years, but creating water is one of the hardest things, I think, to do digitally.
“When you remember the shots as you did them, and then you see what they become, you’re like: ‘Holy sh*t’.”
“We filmed quite a bit using real water and, yeah, I’m hard-pushed to tell the difference between the two,” agreed Glen.
Not far from Edinburgh’s FirstStage Studios, the docks around Leith were used for both day and night shoots. “Elementally, it felt very real, when it needed to be,” noted Glen.
Sci-fi that’s ‘frighteningly plausible’
Few north and north-east residents will be able to watch the dramatic events of The Rig unfold without the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster coming to mind.
Indeed, in preparation for filming, the cast absorbed documentaries, films and literature about the tragedy, as well as the more recent 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, off the coast of the United States – both of which resulted in the deaths of offshore workers.
Though The Rig is billed as a paranormal thriller, the building sense of peril and dread that sets in as soon as technical difficulties begin on Kinloch Bravo stems not just from a fear of the unknown, but from what we already know can happen – and go fatally wrong.
“There is a sci-fi element. But, I hope and think that, if this series works, everything is sort of frighteningly plausible about it,” Glen mused.
If the programme’s eerie atmosphere stays in the audience’s mind after watching, its parallels with reality are surely the reason why. While similarities to Piper Alpha dredge up past anxieties, The Rig’s thematic focus on climate change taps into current and future environmental worries.
Series addresses complicated problem of future of oil and gas
“Everything that happens [in the show] that is a bit sci-fi in its feel is a direct result of what the guys on the rig are doing to the planet,” said Glen.
“There’s a lot of absolutely accurate scientific detail that tells you the history of things that have happened on the planet, going back millennia.
‘That element – where is this industry going, and where should it be going? – is a big theme’
“We’re all aware of things that are happening globally, whether it’s flooding or fires. We’re damaging the planet, and it’s the planet sort of saying it can’t cope.
“Covid felt like an example of that as well. It’s trying to tell humanity that something’s off-kilter, and you’ve got to stop what you’re doing – you’ve got to stop damaging the planet.”
“I think what’s great about this series is that it addresses the problem – what we’re doing to the planet – but it also addresses the people involved. And how important it is to them, and their personal lives,” Bonnar added. “It doesn’t provide answers, but it gives you the problems.”
“That element – where is this industry going, and where should it be going? – is a big theme,” agreed Glen.
“It’s a great thriller that carries an important message that is very, very relevant for today. And we’re stuffed as actors without good writing – that’s what makes us do what we can do.”
The Rig streams on Amazon’s Prime Video from Friday January 6.
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