September 15th 2024.
In a recent interview, Joe Cole opened up about the making of the highly anticipated BBC thriller, Nightsleeper. The actor, who plays Joe Roag in the series, revealed that some of his co-stars were left feeling unwell and in need of medication while filming. The real-time thriller follows a sleeper train from Glasgow to London that gets hacked, and the frantic efforts of a government agency to intervene and stop the escalating events on board.
While the series was not actually filmed on a moving train, the realistic set left some cast members experiencing severe motion sickness. Joe explained, "The train was three sets of three carriages in a studio in Glasgow. From 8am every morning, we were thrust into a dark studio and never left, but they had these incredible LED screens where they had filmed the journey from London to Glasgow and had the real-life world flashing past us."
He continued, "Some of the actors were actually getting vertigo and sickness from it." Although Joe himself was fortunate enough to avoid getting sick, he admitted that filming in the enclosed space for long hours did make him feel claustrophobic. "It was also hot and stuffy, because you've got a whole crew there too. It was...cosy. It felt really intense at times, which I think added something to the performance," he added.
The intense atmosphere on set was also reflected in the script, which Joe described as progressively getting "more bonkers" with each episode. He joked that when he first read the six episodes, he wondered, "how can this get any worse" for all the characters. But as a viewer, he would definitely tune in to watch the thrilling events unfold.
Joe also shared that filming this series made him more aware of the scary reality of hacking and its potential consequences. "I was just talking to somebody the other day about whether this could happen in real life. Although I don't think it would be in this capacity, it's a bit scary, isn't it?" he said.
After wrapping up filming for Nightsleeper, Joe admitted that he was a bit unsettled about getting on a train again in real life. "I wasn't too keen on getting onto a train after this one if I'm honest, mainly because I spent so many hours on train carriages for about three months," he laughed.
Before his role in Nightsleeper, Joe rose to fame as John Shelby in the hit series Peaky Blinders. However, he left the show after three seasons, feeling like he had "exhausted" his character. When asked if there is a possibility of his character returning in the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie, Joe joked, "I'm dead baby!" He added, "Unless they put a big sheet over my head and two slits in and I come back as Casper the Friendly ghost, I am not back."
Since leaving Peaky Blinders, Joe has been busy starring as Sean Wallace in Gangs of London, which has been renewed for a third season. When asked about the release date, he revealed that it could be expected at the end of this year or early next year. In the meantime, viewers can look forward to a wild ride with Nightsleeper, which premieres on Sunday, September 15 at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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