The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weitraub sat with the Oxford 5 to talk about their upcoming Netflix sci-fi series,
3 Body Problem
, at SXSW 2024.
John Bradley, Eiza González, Jovan Adepo, Alex Sharp, and Jess Hong dig into their characters and what about the series will be unforgettable for new fans.

3 Body Problem
is based off the bestselling trilogy by author Liu Cixin and is made for screen by
Game of Thrones
creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

The wait is nearly over for Netflix’s upcoming adaptation series, 3 Body Problem. This epic drama will premiere on the streamer later this week, but for lucky SXSW attendees, that wait is no more. The show’s creatives and crew attended this year’s festival in Austin, Texas, where they shared their world premiere for the first episode of eight, and Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down with cast members Jess Hong, Jovan Adepo, Eiza González, Alex Sharp, and John Bradley, known in the series as the Oxford 5.

Following the world premiere of their series, the cast stopped by Collider’s media studio at SXSW 2024 to chat about what fans can expect in this new sci-fi from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Based on the bestselling science fiction trilogy by Liu Cixin, this global sci-fi sees our world facing the repercussions of one woman’s decision during the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s, and the consequences that reverberate through time.

Having had firsthand experience with the showrunners on the hit HBO series, Bradley revealed what similarities, if any, fans can expect in 3 Body Problem.

“The principle that David and Dan have brought over from
Game of Thrones
is the idea that you can have big existential threats, but they don’t really matter unless you care about the people that they’re affecting. Spectacle is one thing, but unless you have a group of characters who you can relate to and you can kind of live that threat vicariously through those characters, and think, ‘What would I do as a normal person in extraordinary circumstances?’ I think that’s kind of what it’s about. I think because our show is based in the real world, it starts in the real world and then things start to get crazier and crazier, it forces people to think how they’d react in those circumstances. It goes fantastical but it’s firmly rooted in reality.”

Who Are the Oxford 5?
In the show, the Oxford 5 refers to a group of tight-knit students from Oxford University who must band together to save the world. Jin Cheng (Hong) is a theoretical physicist with an insatiable curiosity; Saul Durand (Adepo) is a physics research assistant who is equally as brilliant as his colleagues, though his focus is lacking; Auggie Salazar (González) is a nanotech innovator who prefers to live in the now; Jack Rooney (Bradley) is an affable friend who utilizes his phsyics degree to build a snacks empire; and Will Downing (Sharp) is a sixth-form physics teacher whose life is about to change drastically.

Check out the full interview in the video above for more on laying the groundwork for more seasons, how 3 Body Problem is like nothing else on TV, which episodes to keep an eye on, the show’s VR world, and the filming of Guy Ricthie’s Fountain of Youth.

COLLIDER: This is Steve with Collider, and we’re here in our sxsw studio for 3 Body Problem, which is a fantastic new Netflix series that’s going to become your next favorite sci-fi thing. But let’s talk about the most important thing. [Steve addressing Eiza Gonzalez] You were literally just in Vienna. Please grab a mic and let’s talk.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, I was in Vienna two days ago.

What are you doing in Vienna?

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: I’m doing a movie with Guy Ritchie called Fountain of Youth.

I’ve heard of this Guy Ritchie. I think you even worked with him recently on something called Ministry of…

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Yeah, right. And hypothetically, you might kill a lot of Nazis in that.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, hypothetically.

And when I say a lot, I mean maybe like 3,000 or 4,000.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: But I’ll see you then to talk about that one for sure.

Right. I’m just messing around. So getting to talk to The Oxford Five, you guys did such a great job in this. One of the reasons why I think the show is so good is that all of you have great characters that you understand and understand their motivations. You really get to know them in this spectacle of a show. So what was it like for each of you, you know, reading the scripts and seeing that this is not just spectacle, that there’s a deeper layer to it?

ALEX SHARP: Yeah, I mean, that was the first impression reading the scripts was how fully developed the characters were and how interesting their journeys are and the strength of the dynamics in their relationships. I mean, it’s a real treat to read characters like that in a show of this sort of scope and is pretty irresistible from an actor’s point of view.

JOHN BRADLEY: Yeah, I think what the principle that David and Dan have brought over from Game of Thrones is the idea that you can have big existential threats, but they don’t really matter unless you care about the people that they’re affecting. Spectacle is one thing, but unless you have a group of characters who you can relate to and you can kind of live that threat vicariously through those characters and think what would I do as a normal person in extraordinary circumstances? I think that’s kind of what it’s about. I think because our show is based in the real world, it starts in the real world and then things start to get crazier and crazier, it forces people to think how they’d react in those circumstances. It goes fantastical, but it’s firmly rooted in reality.

I don’t know if anyone else wants to say anything.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, I think that ultimately adapting.. it’s such a complex story. This is a very, very complicated story, to be really fair. If people are familiar with the books, the books are not just an obvious sci-fi and rooted in science, obviously, more geared towards science. But it’s a political drama. It addresses historic important moments in history that kind of rippled effect in what we’re living in the current times. There’s so many foils to the story. So, I mean, they are, it’s really hard to satisfy everyone, right? You wanna put the right things in the right amount, but ultimately, this is just the beginning, hopefully. Those books are so larger than life, and they go so many ways. So I do think that they firmly focus right now into giving people personalities and emotions. And if we didn’t do that, we couldn’t go a billion years ahead of time or wherever the books go, because we’re just like, “Well, why would I care?” You want to experience, what they do is experience these characters as you… they want you to experience it as a personal journey as an audience member. You’re Jess, or Will, or Jin. You’re them, and so in a sense, we’re like your VR version of what you would do throughout that journey. That’s exciting that we were able to sort of lay the groundwork on the first season, and hopefully, if people watch it, we can go so many places. But it was ultimately most important thing I think.

The 3 Body Problem Cast On Their Favorite Episodes
Image via Netflix

The first season is eight episodes. For each of you, which is your favorite of the eight episodes and why?

JOVAN ADEPO: I would have to say the first episode, just because that’s when you meet The Oxford Five. I think one of my favorite scenes to shoot was our first day, which I believe was the pub scene. That was like our first time getting to all play together, and you get to really experience how each actor works and brings their own talent to the table. It was really an important scene, and it’s one of my favorite, or one of the most memorable, excuse me, out of all the scenes that we’ve shot.

JESS HONG: You know, it’s so hard to choose a favorite episode because there’s so much that I love about each of them. One that really sticks out to me is episode five, right? It feels like a blockbuster film, like smack bang in the middle of this philosophical sci-fi. It’s absolutely epic, and I hope that everybody makes it there because what happens is beyond your imagination and so tragic and harrowing and absolutely epic.

JOHN BRADLEY: I think for me personally, episode three is in some ways, sort of the boldest and most intricate really. Because that’s the episode where we really make use of this VR world that we create within the show. The genius thing about that is that because of that device, we’re not bound by any of the logic that any other show is bound by. We can show our characters in any point in history, any point in the future, have them, we can basically show whatever we want to. We’re only limited by David and Dan and Alex’s imaginations. I think that’s the episode where we really take the best advantage of this device, which is so unique to our show and kicks the doors off its hinges and just lets us run wild.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Also, I really like the last episodes for you two. [motions to Jovan Adepo and Alex Sharp] That’s one of my favorite story-plot journey. I really like both Will’s and Saul’s story, and I think that they really get to thrive in those episodes. It’s very emotional, very profound, very deep, but at the same time we get to be, well we don’t, but they get to be in amazing locations. I mean, the fact that they were able to shoot in the UN, I mean that’s pretty spectacular. Then we have all the Cape Canaveral stuff. That’s what I love about the show. You think you’re watching a show, and then like another episode comes and you’re like “Wait, this is not…” and then it keeps you on your toes. I think people, especially the audiences, are gonna enjoy sort of the constant change in storyline, and sort of you never really know what you’re gonna get with the show.

ALEX SHARP: I’m not sure I could pick one, honestly. Yeah, I think I could give really good reasons why each one is my favorite.

JESS HONG: If we had another half hour then we can.

3 Body Problem Cast Members Share Their Favorite TV Shows
Image via Netflix

I wish I could talk spoilers and really get into it because I have so many things to talk about. Before I run out of time with you, and I have more questions about the show, we’re doing a super cut with everyone who comes in and I’m asking everybody, if you could only watch one TV show for the rest of your life, what TV show would you watch and why?

JOVAN ADEPO: Family Guy. I rewatch a lot of Family Guy just because I feel like in work, I do a lot of drama. So I really like to enjoy comedies. Family Guy is something that I watch like all the time, rewatch episodes. That, or The Office. It’s definitely a favorite.

For me, I think it’d be The Joy of Painting. [Cast laughs] Imagine what a lovely person you’d be if that was the only show you ever watched.

You’re not wrong.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Mine would be The Great British Bake Off for sure. I could watch The Bake Off forever at any moment in time, and it makes me so happy. I love baking and British people baking, specifically. [Cast laughs] It’s like so sweet. They’re so sweet. They’re all so sweet people.

ALEX SHARP: Thank you Eiza. [Cast laughs]

JESS HONG: What’s yours?

ALEX SHARP: I mean, Sopranos or Breaking Bad, or…

You can’t list five things. That’s cheating. It’s a one thing.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: He said two.

JESS HONG: Just one.

ALEX SHARP: Sopranos.

JESS HONG: I think I’ll have to go for Naruto because there are so many hundreds of episodes, so hopefully I won’t get too bored going back and watching them again.

ALEX SHARP: Tactical choice.

JESS HONG: Yeah, logic.

Well, I mean, Family Guy is also like that. There’s like 20-something seasons.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Exactly.

John Bradley on His Characters Bedroom
Image via Netflix

Jumping back into your show, let’s talk about your bedroom. [Motions towards John Bradley] I don’t want to spoil anything. [Cast laughs] But you have an interesting collection of things. How much, at the end of the shoot, were you like, “I’m just taking this stuff home”?

JOHN BRADLEY: Uh, no. There was something about that house, which I found very moving, actually. The whole house and his bedroom, it really gave me a sort of key into that character really. Somebody that had those interests probably as a kid, didn’t have a lot of money growing up; and now he’s made himself a fortune, and he’s able to spend his money on all the cool stuff he’s ever wanted. It very much felt like Jack’s thing. If I’d have taken it, it felt like I was stealing from him, but yeah, there’s something really heartwarming about it. And then, of course, the thing about Jack is that he’s got all of this stuff, but we find out later on that the things that mean the most to him are the things that he’s… his friends.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: That’s us.

JOHN BRADLEY: Yeah, I guess so [Eiza laughs]; but other than that, I was thinking he’s kept things from when he was a child. I think that that’s quite a sort of like… it’s a little analogy for what it means to be alive really. That you go through life, but the things that you try to keep closest to you, the things that mean the most to you, are the things that you discover early on; and they stay with you your entire life.

ALEX SHARP: Yeah, and that set, the set actually did a lot of the work for us. In the scene where we return there later as well.

Well, that’s one of the reasons, getting back to what I said at the beginning, it’s the fact that you care so much about the characters. I think the audience can relate to at least one of you, you know what I mean, and the way the dynamic is, which is what’s going to pull people in. I also want to touch on the fact that I watch a lot of television for work, and there is nothing like this show on TV. The other thing about it is it takes, and I don’t want to spoil anything, there’s a lot of twists and turns that you will not see coming. So I guess, touch a little bit about that, that it’s unlike anything on TV, and you really won’t see what’s coming.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Who wants to start?

JOVAN ADEPO: I think that’s a testament to the writing. It was David, Dan, and Alex came in with a lot of passion about this project. They had this material for many years, and they were doing their absolute best to create characters that, like you said, before people care about. I think that the more that they care about those characters, the more they’re invested in these twists and turns that you’re referencing.

JESS HONG: Like we’ve mentioned, the show is genre-bending, so there is a smörgåsbord of everything you could possibly want. You’ve got action, you’ve got epic spectacle, you’ve got the nuanced scenes. The source material itself, anyone who’s read it knows that it’s so vast, and you could kind of drown in it; but what David, Dan, and Alex have done is they’ve kind of concentrated all of that powerful storytelling into one explosive arc. The core of that is I believe The Oxford Five and Benny [Benedict] Wong’s character Da Shi, who really lead the audience through their their shoes as they go on this wild ride. Hopefully everyone, the audience, can hold on for dear life.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ: There’s a lot to set up, you know. The books are really vast, as she said. A lot to set up, so it’s challenging as a creative and as…anyone– as a writer, as a creative, for the cast, for the crew. There’s a lot being asked from just by the nature of the books. I think they do a spectacular job at that because you also don’t want to… you don’t want to speed up the story. You don’t want to move forward too quickly, but you also need to set so many things at once. So it’s a very complicated, you know, we have to give them the credit. It’s a very complicated thing to set in eight episodes. I think they do an incredible job at balancing all those things and introducing a lot of information because we also kind of want to get all the information of where we’re coming from and where we’re going. Because the books move pretty quickly as this has been set up and the future and the possibilities are endless.

But I definitely think that it is a complicated thing to adapt, like, ultimately one of the hardest things I’ve ever seen to be able to adapt. And what I really want to highlight that I loved about what they did is you already had all these complicated subject matters. You know, again, we’re addressing so many different political agendas, da, da, da, da, da. But you also have this book that has been written in Chinese with Chinese people in China. The thing is we’re addressing a worldwide crisis, right, Earth is in crisis. I think that what they did beautifully was keeping obviously the Chinese components of it because, you know, that is where the book comes from and the history of China is radically important into this story. But it also added the layer of what is another two different layers and that is two different genders, you know, because in the books are heavily, heavily masculine. Also secondly, people from different cultures. The way that I react being a woman from Mexico is not the same as a man from England with the background that we have. So that adds a character trait, more layers to ethically what you would do, what you would decide, how pragmatic you are. There’s so many things that come with that, and I think, again, the room for expansion is endless from there.

I have so many other questions, but I have to wrap with you guys. Listen, for everyone watching, you’re gonna love this show. It’s gonna be your next obsession. Thank you all so much for coming in, and I wish you nothing but the best.

CAST: Thank you. Thank you so much.

3 Body Problem begins streaming on Netflix on March 21.

3 Body Problem A fateful decision made in 1960s China reverberates in the present, where a group of scientists partner with a detective to confront an existential planetary threat.Release Date 2023-00-00 Main Genre Sci-Fi Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Netflix Showrunner David Benioff , D.B. Weiss , Alexander Woo