The Terror: Infamy star George Takei’s determination to draw on his own experiences of being locked up as a child during World War Two inspired the rest of the cast and crew, the series creator said.
The horror-drama anthology series tells the story of Japanese-Americans who were sent to camps by the US government after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour brought the country into war.
Takei, an actor best known for his role of Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, was born in Los Angeles but he and his family were imprisoned when he was five years old.
The 82-year-old has a starring role in Infamy as a fisherman and community elder, while also working as a consultant on the show.
Alexander Woo, the series creator, said Takei’s contribution was invaluable.
He told the PA news agency: “As a consultant he was the one person on our set who lived through the internments, so he had first-hand recollections of these events.
“This is something he has said is his life’s work to bring awareness to this history that has been sadly overlooked.
“So that inspired the entire cast and crew, including those of us who didn’t have an immediate relative with this experience, to work a little bit harder and make this show as vivid and distinctive as it is.”
Internment is a seldom discussed, dark chapter of US history. Descendants of those who were locked up – including Takei – have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the episode.
Woo said it was important to feature as many actors and crew members of Japanese descent as possible.
He said: “We had a lot of people on our set and crew who had immediate relatives who were interned, which makes the production very special. In fact we did a count – there were 138 immediate relatives of our cast and crew who lived through the internments.”
Even a significant portion of Infamy’s extras, Woo said, had relatives who were locked up after the US entered World War Two.
And in some cases the actors were standing in the same places their parents and grandparents were as some of the show was shot in historical locations.
The Terror: Infamy airs exclusively on AMC UK on Mondays at 9pm.