Acclaimed actor Charles Dance has starred in too many memorable roles to accurately tally. From Gosford Park and The Imitation Game to his recent head-turner—Tywin Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones. To be sure, Dance is mindful when he chooses roles, which brings us to his latest turn as Dr. Ben Wilson, a mysterious gent who often leaves Kiefer Sutherland’s character (John Weir) befuddled in Rabbit Hole. The new action-thriller hits Paramount+ on March 26.
“What attracted me to [the series] is what the script didn’t tell me,” Dance shared about his initial thoughts when he was first handed the script. Copy that. By all accounts, Rabbit Hole certainly leaves viewers guessing. Sutherland (24, Designated Survivor) plays a master of deception in the world of spies and corporate espionage. When he’s framed for murder, the ripple effects create a compelling thrill ride, filled with action and a bevy of plot twists.
The all-star cast includes Empire’s Meta Golding, playing a caught-in-the-line-of-fire gal (Hailey Winton)—she’s a potential love interest for Sutherland’s character. Enid Graham (Mare of Easttown) steps into the shoes of an FBI agent. Jason Butler Harner, Walt Klink, and Rob Yang round out the cast.
Showrunners, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra say they wanted to make sure they weren’t “passive” in the storytelling here. No worries there. Rabbit Hole is one wild ride. The showrunners share more about the series below. But first, Charles Dance and Meta Golding chime in about what intrigued them the most when they first read the story.
Keep the Audience Guessing
“We really want the audience to pay attention—like, put the phone down,” mused showrunner Glenn Ficarra of the prime directive he and John Requa shared for Rabbit Hole. “You really have to pay attention and see what's going on here because you're going to watch it from episode to episode, and everything's going to change. You really want people leaning in. This is a little different from just people in the room talking.”
Sutherland does what he does best here—zip through intense scenes and keep up with what the writers have tossed him. Is John’s mind as sharp as we think it is? That’s what the writers tempt viewers with. Prime characters to pay attention to beyond Sutherland: Walt Klink’s snarky “intern,” Rob Yang’s troubled businessman, Meta Golding’s Enid, who is swept along on John’s thrill ride to uncover the truth and clear his name. And, of course, Charles Dance, whose mysterious Dr. Ben never fails to fascinate throughout.
“Wasn’t it Marshall McLuhan who said, ‘TV is radio with pictures?’” Ficarra noted. “And we hate that. It seems like it’s our job to refute that. Like, no, TV should be a hot medium. It should be like movies. We really wanted to give more of a movie experience with Rabbit Hole. Because even if you watch a Marvel TV Show or a Star Wars TV show, it still feels like a TV show. It doesn't feel like a movie. We wanted to recreate that movie experience here.”
One of the main things the showrunners did to achieve that was to create every episode in a movie-like structure, with a setup and a payoff.
“We did this so that each episode leads to the other,” Ficarra added. “I think viewers will like the high entertainment value. We're really big fans of Rian Johnson and his Knives Out series so there was that. But Kiefer is just a beloved American hero, an icon that way. His character here can be unreliable because there’s this little sort of mental illness. He's very selective of the information he shares. But you want to be able to still like him after he might deceive you.”
Meta Golding on Kiefer Sutherland
As Hailey Winton, Meta Golding finds herself somewhat trapped in the twisted series of events set in motion by Sutherland’s John Weir. The two actors share many scenes together. When asked what her experience was like working alongside the 24 Emmy winner, Golding praised Sutherland.
“I learned a lot from Kiefer. He’s a film and television icon and he really knows what he's doing in any genre,” she said. “It was interesting for me being with him… we were doing a little bit of an adult romance with each other here. That was really interesting to explore. We go from being in this espionage action to adults trying to understand each other. I liked the different rhythms of that.”
Sutherland also serves as executive producer for the series with Requa and Ficarra, who write and direct, and have previously teamed up on WeCrashed. Overall, Sutherland fans will find this outing compelling. Slick, action-packed, and mindbending, Rabbit Hole is bound to entice.
Dive into Rabbit Hole on March 26 on Paramount+.