In Netflix’sAway,Hilary Swank’s Emma Green leads a crew of astronauts on a mission to Mars.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you find this project?
What drew you in?
Credit: DIYAH PERA/NETFLIX
ATO ESSANDOH:For me, it was an audition.
[Laughs] It seemed like a no-brainer for me.
I’d love to be a part of something like that.
VIVIAN WU:For the last decade I was working in China.
I really hadn’t read many roles as wonderful as Lu.
Lu came as a really big, happy surprise.
This was it, so I was really elated.
What was the research process like for each of your characters?
ESSANDOH:We didn’t get to go to NASA, which was disappointing but I get it.
IVANIR:Nothing scientific for me.
If I were to go on a spaceship, it would crash.
[Laughs] My science aptitude goes up to replacing a bulb.
But I found a documentary about a Russian cosmonaut who’s been in space for over a year.
Sometimes it’s the little things that somehow bring you closer to the part.
There’s a lot of layers to that.
I did a lot of research and tried to bring empathy and humanity to the role.
At what point did you know your character’s backstory?
ESSANDOH:We got scripts ahead of time so we knew a lot of that.
PANTHAKI:It really helped me with my character because it informed every scene.
Something so significant form his past determines how he sees things now.
ESSANDOH:Before they had cast me, Kwesi was actually a Nigerian character.
That’s the language my family actually speaks.
WU:I’m still trying to dig into her backstory.
IVANIR:Same here.
It’s a working process and the process is ongoing.
WU:I can connect to her in the realm of both of us have to work so hard.
She’s a working mother.
My work constantly takes me away for big chunks of time.
What went into the wire work necessary to make it seem as if you all were experiencing zero gravity?
In this sense, I think the show did an amazing job.
WU:Mark was really nimble.
He was like the monkey on the set.
I was like, “I couldn’t do those things!”
PANTHAKI:It was a lot of physical hard work.
I worked muscles that I never knew existed in my body.
Every day for two weeks we were learning a little bit more.
It was a lot of practice, a lot of hard work.
Those sessions were grueling.
It’s your core and your glutes.
It was really hard but worth the pain because it looks so real and authentic.
[Laughs]
PANTHAKI:I did have abs and then lockdown happened and my abs disappeared.
[Laughs]
ESSANDOH:I honestly can’t believe we pulled it off.
PANTHAKI:It was choreographed like a dance.
Just know that every time we’re speaking, our abs are killing us.
ESSANDOH:I thought I could do space until this show.
Now I’m like man, I can barely handle the wires.
Awayis available on Netflix now.
