Ritu Arya is helping steer the ship inParis Has Fallen. After holding guest star and supporting roles in everything from AMC’sHumanstoDoctor Who, the English actor found her breakout turn as Lila in thecast of Netflix’sThe Umbrella Academy, starring in seasons 2-4 of the well-received graphic novel adaptation. Arya has also worked on a number of major motion projects in the past decade, namely with her supporting roles inRed NoticeandBarbie.
In the TV installment of the Gerard Butler-led action moviefranchise,Arya stars inParis Has Fallen’s castas Zara Taylor, a new MI6 agent stationed in France. There, she finds herself partnered with protection officer Vincent Taleb (Tewfik Jallab) in an effort to stop former French Foreign Legion soldier-turned-terrorist Jacob Pearce (Sean Harris) in his quest for vengeance against the French government.
Paris Has Fallen Season 1 Review: Sean Harris Is At Top Villain Form In Enthralling Action Franchise Expansion
Paris Has Fallen is a deeply engrossing, action-packed, and highly bingeable series with one of the year’s best TV villains in Sean Harris.
In celebration ofParis Has Fallen’s Hulu premiere,ScreenRantspoke with Arya to discuss her familiarity with theHas Fallenfranchise prior to leading the cast of the spinoff show, her work with Jallab and Harris, starring in a Gerard Butler-produced project, andthe possibilities of otherHas Fallenlocationsin future seasons.
Arya Came Into TheHas FallenFranchise Completely Fresh
“The series is going to be so different from the movies…”
ScreenRant:Paris Has Fallenis the latest installmentinto this grandHas Fallenfranchise that began way back in 2013. Going into this project, what was your familiarity with the movies that preceded the show?
Ritu Arya: I hadn’t actually watched them, so when it came through I had to just watch little bits, so I kind of got the tone. They’re so different. The series is going to be so different from the movies, so I didn’t want it to influence me or anything. So yeah, not much really.
Promoting A Show Already Released Overseas Can Be “Really Bizarre”
The Series Premiered On Canal+ In September
What’s interesting too is this show is coming to Hulu for American audiences, but it already premiered on Canal+ overseas and all that. For you as an actor, when you’re promoting a project like this, what does that experience feel like when the show is kind of already out for some people, but it’s completely new for others?
Ritu Arya: I know it’s really bizarre because I’ve sort of got my festive Christmas hat on, “Okay, it’s time to chill,” and then it’s like, “Oh wait, we were talking about the show because it’s come out. It’s about to come out in the US.” It’s so exciting. It feels like it’s already in celebration, so it’s a great feeling. Before it comes out, you are a bit more in anticipation.
Zara & Vincent’s Dynamic Will See Them Testing Each Other’s Trust
Arya Also Teases The “Complicated” Nature Of Jacob
Let’s talk about Zara a little bit. She’s such a fascinating character. I would love for you to just tell our audience about Zara. Who is she? What’s her role within theHas Fallenworld?
Ritu Arya: So Zara is a new MI6 agent. She joins this task force with Vincent for this high-stakes operation of capturing this terrorist. She is new. She’s got something to prove. She’s in a relationship with a woman who has a drug addiction. She’s sort of balancing her personal life at work. She’s also not sharing her job with her partner, so there’s a lot of trust. There’s a lot of blurred lines with honesty and trust issues. She’s complicated, and she learns to sort of work as a team with Vincent and their relationship develops. But yeah, she’s complicated.
Complicated is a good way to put it. I’d love to go down that rabbit hole, a little bit of your dynamic opposite the character of Vincent. This story is really being told through the vessel of those two characters. What is that dynamic between Zara and Vincent?
Ritu Arya: She’s not too sure about him at first, like I said, trust issues, but he grows on her. They start working together really well, and she gets to know him better. He’s there for her. Yeah. They end up caring about him.
You’re working with Sean Harris on this show, and I love Sean’s work on projects like this, because I know him asSolomon Lane from theMission: Impossiblemovies. He’s one of the most memorable antagonists from that franchise, which is really saying something, because that franchise kind of redefined the spy genre. Working with Sean, having a prestigious name involved in this show, what kind of vibe did he bring to the set?
Ritu Arya: Well, I think as the villain, he’s such a brilliant actor, and he brought this really, again, just a complicated [layer], but this depth to this character that you are kind of at times on his side because you may understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. So I think that it’s such a compelling character and terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
The opening scene of the first episode, I feel like, really sets the tone, not just for the action in this show, but who these characters are and their motives and all that. I’d love to go back with you, your memories of shooting that scene. Was that the first thing you shot? I know sometimes things are shot out of order.
Ritu Arya: Oh my gosh, I can’t remember. What was the first scene that we shot? I think so, but we had to come back to it at the end of the shoot. The set was so grand. We were shooting in Newport and I think the weather was really gloomy. It was just a little bit miserable. So then you go in, it was really spectacular being inside this grand room, and I remember the dancers were just mind-blowing and Oded Ruskin, who directed the first four episodes, was very specific with how it was shot, and I loved how he wanted to really verify he would get nuanced character moments through so much heavy action and plot. It was like a whole dance and yeah, it felt really big and exciting and a challenge.
Arya Has “Yet To Meet” Butler, Despite His Producing The Show
“Tell him I say hi.”
Speaking of the production, Gerard Butler was involved as a producer on this show. I know when it comes to producers, not everyone is on set every day. Sometimes people come in and post-production. Did you get to work with Gerry at all?
Ritu Arya: I didn’t. I’ve yet to meet him. Tell him I say hi. He was supposed to, and then, I don’t know what, there were so many script changes. There was one script where we had stuff and then another script and we didn’t. It was like, “What’s the edit going to be?” It was new to me to see the last episode of what that would even turn out, which is exciting. It is also a bit nerve-wracking because, “What’s the story? How does it end?” So yeah, no, I didn’t get to work with him, unfortunately.
Where WillHas FallenGo Next?
“The possibilities are endless…”
I feel like we’re entering a new era, if you will, with this franchise, the idea of telling theseHas Fallenstories in serialized television format. Going forward, if we do get a second season or more spin-offs, would you like to stay in France or do you think there’s room to explore the rest of the globe?
Ritu Arya: Let’s explore. I love variety. I want to travel the world with the show. Barcelona, Miami. Anyway, Tokyo. I mean, there’s so many cities. I want to go traveling. I need to go traveling. Yeah, it’ll be fun. The possibilities are endless.
AboutParis Has Fallen
When a terrorist group led by the villainous Jacob Pearce attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the French Minister of Defence as their target, protection officer Vincent finds himself working with street-smart MI6 operative Zara to save the day. But when events take an increasingly dark turn, Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one politician. With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce, Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other more than either would have ever imagined. Increasingly isolated and with Pearce always one step ahead, can this unlikely pair stop Paris from falling to a man hell-bent on vengeance?
Paris Has Fallen
Cast
Paris Has Fallen follows a protection officer and an MI6 operative as they join forces in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Suspecting a mole, they race against time to uncover a larger conspiracy that threatens the safety of Paris.
