What if the Allies actually lost War World II to the Axis Powers? That’s the question Amazon’s bold “Man in the High Castle” tackles. It’s also one that made for a lively panel Monday morning during the streaming company’s Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills.
“I was a little concerned for the character because you didn’t see a lot of him outside of striding down corridors and torturing people,” Rufus Sewell admitted about his character John Smith’s actions in the pilot, which is Amazon Studios’ highest rated to-date.
But when he read the second episode — which takes Smith home to his family — Sewell (pictured above, center) was in, partly because of his empathy for Smith.
“In his world, he is considered a good man … an all-American hero,” he told reporters. “It’s that terrible irony that you’re capable of living in a system that is incredibly cruel and unjust, [but] you can still convince yourself that you’re right.”
Earlier in the panel, creator Frank Spotnitz teased the multiple realities that the show depicts. In the pilot, characters uncover footage from the version of events that we all know to be true today. He told journalists that the reality — with the Allied Powers winning the war — won’t roll out “too fast” across the initial episode release, leaving some seeds to be sown for a likely Season 2.
“The Man in the High Castle” is executive produced by Ridley Scott and David Zucker.
The Amazon show also stars Luke Kleintank, Alexa Davalos, Rupert Evans, Joel de La Fuente, Cary, Hiroyuki Tagawa and Isa Dick Hackett, all of whom were in attendance on the morning panel.