Most people know Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. There have been various adaptations, and Captain Nemo even showed up in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. All of these versions have picked up with a Captain Nemo later in his life, and that’s something Nautilus will step away from.
The new AMC and AMC+ series, Nautilus, will follow the life of a younger Nemo, played by Shazad Latif. The British actor chatted with us about his role, including why this was a series he wanted to do and the type of romance story that’s coming up.
Shazad Latif teases where we meet Captain Nemo in Nautilus
Show Snob: I’m a huge fan of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, so I’ve been excited to see Nautilus to see this new version of Captain Nemo. What is it about the series that pulled you in?
Shazad Latif: Well, first of all, you get the chance to play such an iconic character, and it’s one you can’t say no to. It’s the lead of a huge adventure show, and James Mason played it originally, and others, like Michael Caine, so, just the chance to do it, it was a yes.
And it’s an origin story. It’s the stuff we don’t really get to see in Twenty Thousand Leagues. We don’t really get to know him. He was a mystery in that book. I think in Nautilus, we get to know the man before the myth. The chance to do an origin story is always fun, because you get sort of free reign in a way, so that was what drew me in.
SS: I was going to ask about it being an origin story. Can you tease about where we get to meet Nemo?
SL: I think he’s always seen as this mad genius who we don’t really know anything about in the books, but here, we get to see the emotional version. It’s deeply emotional. He’s very idealistic by the trauma of colonialism and the injustices around him. We get to see that anger in this man in action, doing things and trying to get revenge, which obviously, in the book, we meet him when he’s done that already.
SS: There’s so much dark history that schools overlook. What’s it like for you to be able to showcase the real elements of history, while also fictionalizing the story?
SL: Yeah, I think because ours has elements of fun and lightness as well, even though the backdrop is incredibly serious — the East India Company was not a nice bunch of people — we don’t delve into it deeply as if we were a drama, but that is the through line of this series, and this guy’s wife and child have been killed. He wants revenge, but ours just has a slightly lighter paintbrush over it.
Either way, we need those stories more and more, because when I was at school, I didn’t hear about the East India Company until I was much older.
SS: I’m guessing you read the books before the series then.
SL: Yeah.
SS: Was there any other prep work that you did before filming the series?
SL: Yeah, I had quite a lot of time before the series. There was a whole prep process of six maybe seven months. Obviously, the book is the Bible. You’ve got so much stuff in there that talks about the way he stands, the way he moves, there are just lovely phrases that you can take from. There’s something about a sombre fire mentioned in the book, and I just thought about his voice being like that. There’s just so many things that you can trick your imagination and just inspire you.
And it’s just about spending time with the script and going over and over it. I had quite a long time, which was a luxury. It was great to spend that much time with the character.
SS: Yeah, I was just thinking that six months is virtually unheard of.
SL: Yeah, I think just because I got in early with the audition process and the show had so many characters to cast, so it just meant I had a lot longer to spend with it.
SS: How did you go about making this character stand out as your own? As you said, there are so many others who have played it.
SL: I think the fact that I get to do so much. I got 10 episodes worth of stuff that by the very nature of it, you’re going to explore this character more. I get 50-minute episodes to getthis guy’s backstory, so I knew I was going to get so much to do. Obviously, I get action scenes, and I get scenes with the romantic lead, and it seems to be funny. There’s just so much to do that it was inevitable. You’re gonna learn more.
And again, it’s the origin story, so I don’t think any versions have really seen the backstory, so luckily, I get to explore that. Where other versions are just showing me the later version of Nemo.
SS: You mention the romantic lead. Every show needs it, but we’re catching Nemo as he’s grieving the loss of his wife and child. What was it like for you to show this grieving character how is potentially opening himself back up to love?
SL: It’s just the kind of thing that a lot of humans go through. If there’s a bereavement or you’ve recently been with someone, it’s always hard to open your heart again. You get a hard exterior. Obviously it takes a long time, but Humility Lucas, played by Georgia Flood, was just such a great scene partner. She was so great at just finding that natural balance, and then adding the comedy and then adding just pure heartbreak.
I loved our scenes together, because it was just us. Just sort of two-handers going back and forth. They start off hating each other, which is funny, and it grows.
SS: To finish off, how would you describe Nemo in three words or phrases?
SL: Oh, I would say emotional, idealistic, and angry. No genius. Let’s go with that instead.
SS: We can have four.
Nautilus premieres on Sunday, June 29 on AMC and streams on AMC+.