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But most of all, for the shows creators David Benioff and D.B.
But we really wanted Netflix to do something that felt different in many, many ways.
This article first appeared in Total Film magazine.
By their own admission, neither was that familiar with Lius work.
An alien race, facing its own annihilation, has set its sights on Earth.
They wont arrive for 400 years.
That Id never really seen before.
I dont think any of us had.
In Signs, they come from out of the sky, and then theyre here.
Its all about what do we do when theyre here.
This is more about us than it is about them.
Joining Weiss and Benioff in this creative hive was Alexander Woo, a former writer-producer on True Blood.
One of the things that makes it so challenging is that the timelines of the trilogy are pretty crazy.
All three do start in the rough present day.
And [the] second, third books certainly go far, far, far into the future.
says Adepo, who previously featured in another doomedhumanity tale, HBO drama The Leftovers.
We are all individuals, and we have our own backgrounds, our own personalities.
Hes come from a council estate.
And now hes a physics graduate from Oxford University, super-intelligent, in an instinctive, streetwise way.
Now, unlike his academic friends, hes found entrepreneurial success.
So hes living high on the hog.
Hes loving his life… as a super-rich man-about-town.
John Bradley is one of the smartest people weve ever met, says Weiss.
Wherever his intelligence comes from, its not books.
He would sometimes subject other actors on Game of Thrones to readings.
I really had to do a lot of research into what its like to be that kind of scumbag!
It doesnt come naturally to me, that kind of attitude.
Sadly, the scene got cut.
Im glad that a lot of my Man United-supporting pals wont get the chance to see it!
he adds, clearly relieved.
Bradley aside, 3 Body Problem gave Benioff and Weiss the chance to reunite with several key Thrones alumni.
I was surprised [that we got him].
When he said he wanted to do the show, I was like, Are you sure?
I just felt like he was just dropping a lottery ticket in our laps.
Without spoiling, this episode also taps into Benioffs irrational Thrones-inspired fear of horses.
By the time we got through the final season, I had grown terrified of horses.
Honestly, by the end, I was just like, I cant get near these things.
Which might explain one remarkable, gravity-defying VFX sequence, when things go haywire in VR land.
The floating horse, which is shitting itself… laughs Benioff.
But if you frame through [the sequence] youll see…
The episode also includes inspired cameos from ex-League of Gentlemen stars Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith.
Ive logged many hours of Ade Edmondson viewing in my brain.
And they had nothing to do with the excellent work that I was seeing on our set.
They were of Vyvyan smashing his head through a wall!
The brainpower just in a small classroom is incredible, he notes, admiringly.
So did his understanding of this very taxing science improve at all?
I could probably guess in a multiple-choice quiz certain aspects of high-level physics.
But I dare not disrespect the students who put countless hours in studying to get their doctorates.
The big fear was always whether youd need a degree to unpick 3 Body Problem.
Its not just sci-fi, Adepo says.
Its not just drama.
There is comedy in the show.
Its just complex storytelling.
Bradley remembers when the teaser dropped last summer.
Because there are parts in space [and] parts that seemed to be in the contemporary world.
Theres 1960s China, theres Tudor England, theres Genghis Khans Mongolian dynasty.
And a large part of that is the virtual-reality element of it.
It just kicks the doors of possibility wide open.
Indeed, one of the real pleasures of the show is just how unlike anything else around it is.
But we knew that it was different from anything else wed encountered.
Part of the attraction was like, How the hell do we do this?
It was similar when we read [Thrones author] George R.R.
Martins books for the first time, just thinking, These books are incredible.
But is it possible to do this as a TV series?
Is it too big, too sprawling, too expensive?
Ask for references and Benioff admits they watched Stanley Kubricks landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey repeatedly.
But there were other influential sci-fi texts, too.
Danny Boyle did that movie Sunshine, which had moments of that awe-and-wonder feeling, adds Weiss.
Its not just about a monster chasing you and you should probably get away.
Its the feeling of wonder that comes with great science fiction.
He also cites Tarkovskys Solaris.
So are Benioff and Weiss expecting another Throneslike phenomenon?
I mean, the odds are it was a oncein-a-lifetime thing.
Itd be insane to expect that again.
And we didnt expect it the first time, to be honest, shrugs Weiss.
I think that theres more story to be told, he says.
Im curious to see how we continue to deal with this threat.
The ending did influence [us] a lot, says Woo.
It was so effective.
As you’re able to imagine that alien threat will eventually materialise.
Or to use a Thrones analogy: winter is coming.
Theyre faster than winter.
This article appeared in Total Film magazine:buy here.
3 Body Problem is out on Netflix now.
For more, check out our guides to3 Body Problem season 2and the3 Body Problem ending explained.
