We caught up with former Primeval star Andrew Lee Potts to discuss his role in the new Netflix show The Innocents and the future of this web series Wireless…

STARBURST: For those who haven’t caught it yet, tell us a little bit about The Innocents.

Andrew Lee Potts: The premise of the show is kind of a Romeo and Juliet runaway story but with this added twist of shapeshifting. That really simplifies it because it’s very complex. In my opinion, it’s a touch of class what they’ve done with it. I had a feeling from the get-go it was going to be something good and obviously Netflix agreed because I don’t think I’ve been in a show apart from Band of Brothers with so much advertising. They took over Waterloo station with a massive board, on Twitter they were posting stuff around the world as it came out on the same day, so it’s pretty cool. It’s exciting to be involved with a show that’s that big!

It’s a drip-feed show for sure, but the payoff is enormous in it. They do shapeshifting in a way you’ve never seen before. It’s the implications of what that actually would mean without being Mystique in X-Men. It’s the emotional stuff that comes along with that. The people that she shifts into are so far between each other; it reminds me a little bit like Quantum Leap, but a really dark version of it.

After my episode [3], it really kicks into gear, so obviously they did a lot of work on establishing the relationship of Harry and June (Percelle Ascott and Sorcha Groundsell) – who are played so well by the two lead actors, they really get you to care about them. They don’t apologise for just taking it at their own pace and going ‘you’re going to need to know when we want you to know’. It’s so easy with big shows to cut corners, put a bit of funky music on it and jazz it up because you’re frightened of people getting bored. I’m a big fan of Better Call Saul, which has been a slow burn right from the start and now they’re on Season Four, and he’s still no closer to being the lawyer we knew in Breaking Bad. I think it’s brave and intelligent television, really.

I don’t want to give too much away as the show twists and shifts so many times and in so many ways that it’s a bit of a journey. It’s seems to be going down well though.

So tell us about your part in Episode 3…

I play a kind of a Fagin-type role. The runaways need somebody and I’m there at the right time and right place. I guess he’s a charming kind of friendly chap but with The Innocents, you never really know anyone’s motives until they become clear. So I get the two youngsters involved in drug dealing in London. It’s their first time in London, obviously not the wisest move for them! So I take advantage of their vulnerability and their innocence and it ends pretty catastrophically!

One of the best bits about working on it, obviously I got quite close to Percy who plays Harry. He’s a young actor but he’s so earnest; just my cup of tea a person. So honest and took it all in his stride. He was listening a lot – I like both of them as actors, but I had more to do with him. I think he’s going to be a big star – he deserves to be. Once you watch the show, you’ll realise how huge of an emotional challenge he’s taken on, because obviously, when she shifts, the only other person who’s stable is him. So he’s having to cope with it.

So he’s having to shift with the way he deals with things?

Mentally shift all the time, yeah. There’s a brilliant line where Harry calls his mum, going: “I don’t understand, June’s changing so much, she scares me” and his mum goes, “That’s love darling”. Obviously, they don’t know what’s going on, so that’s funny.

I was happy with my part from the get-go. When I went in and met the director Farren Blackburn – who did Daredevil, The Defenders, and Iron Fist so he’s big with the Marvel stuff, but this is totally not like a Marvel show at all – he was just cool as fuck, basically. I really liked him, really respected him and he just gave off an air of calmness and we kind of just really connected. You don’t often get that sometimes, you’re one of many names and many faces that they see. I walked out of there thinking I don’t only want this job because it’s a really cool show, I wanted to work with him! I think he’s a really good egg, and super talented. So I hope I get the opportunity to work with him again.

Funnily enough, even though it’s only a lead in one episode, it took the entire time of the shoot to film. Because of Guy Pearce’s availability and things like that, and part of it’s not set in England, they had to split my filming in half. So I literally started on Harry and June’s first day of filming, and I was there on their second to last day. Which is crazy, because you feel like a real part of it. I saw how they were at the start and how they were at the end, so it was a nice job like that.

I was surprised at how big it’s come out. It’s nice when the company get behind the show that you’re in.

It’s normally just the reality garbage that gets all the publicity…

Exactly, and this is a totally unique type of show. For all the people who like X-Men and things like that, there’s something in it for them, but it’s high drama as well. You know, if you were some sort of mutant, what would be the emotional cause of that on you? It’s an interesting thing, and that’s what they explore in it. It’s also a coming of age story; going through your teens is hard enough, imagine if you can’t keep the same face and body? So they explore every part of it.

A lot of times on jobs, you come away with friends at the end, I met Sabrina Bartlett, who plays my girlfriend, on it. We really bonded; she watched some of Wireless, and there’s a character coming up that she would be perfect for so she’s going to be in it! When stars align and all that…

I’m coming to the end of editing Episode 14 and that just leaves two more episodes and it’s done. Three years in the making!

So you’re looking to end around March time next year?

I’m going to put 14 out, then 15 is another cool episode, which answers a lot of questions and then we’re into the big finale. I don’t think I’ll be shooting that until the beginning of next year because I’m shooting it differently. It’s going to be cool to do; it’s all planned out. It’s been a crazy journey doing it.
I guess getting to the end, which I will and which I promised, even though it’s taken quite a long time to do, it makes me proud that I’ve stuck with it and hopefully told the whole story. The end is going to be satisfying, let’s just say that. Everybody’s been so patient with it, I want to give people the ending they deserve.

So when do you shoot next?

Soon! I’ve got a pre-title scene to do, like I say, this one’s nearly done, I’ve just got to do the sound levels on the next episode. Which, funnily enough, is the one set at MCM, but there’s quite a lot of different things that happen in it so it’s been quite complicated to put together.

The whole next episode is finished and out to the actors, and I’m just waiting for a location and the actor’s availability. The next one’s less of an action episode, and more ‘get some answers’.

What’s next for you when Wireless has finished?

Sitting down and having a cup of tea I think [laughs]. I’ve got ideas… I’ve always said to myself that I want to direct a feature, so that will be the next step for me. But in the vein in which I’ve done a lot of my things, I want to direct it in my own way. Which would be not big budget, trying to be clever about it but do everything properly, with a crew and this, that, and the other. If I can do Wireless with a GoPro on my own, hopefully with a bigger crew, I might be alright! I’ve got the imagination and I’ve got the drive to do it, so we’ll see. I don’t want to rush it though, I want to have everything in place and planned. It’s all about putting the story and script together. You can put all the bells and whistles on later.

The Innocents is streaming now on Netflix. You can view past episodes of Wireless on YouTube now, and find out more about the exciting web series at www.keychainproductions.co.uk.