‘Sense8’ – The Lowdown On The Wachowski’s New Netflix Show

The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Trilogy) have certainly been busy in their effort to have another masterful Matrix-like hit that will have us questioning whether we’re actually here or not.

I think they’ve finally gotten it with the new Netflix TV series Sense8, the Wachoswki’s first foray into television. As eight strangers from around the world suddenly find themselves connected in a mental and emotional state, they have to work together in order to understand the significance of their gift. Meanwhile, they have to keep themselves alive as a secret organization hunts them down. How’s that for a premise? Word is that the show is unlike anything seen on television before. It’s shot in 4k and supposedly pushes the boundaries in style, scope and story. We can’t wait!

We recently had the opportunity to participate in a Netflix hosted conference call with Daryl Hannah and Naveen Andrews, stars of the new show, where they discussed themes such as homosexuality, their take on binge-watching and their own performances. Following are the key highlights of the conference…

ShowBizCafe (SBC): I was wondering whether this show has a central character that it follows; one that’s the glue that the audience will follow during its run. How does the show format the season throughout?

Daryl Hannah (DH): There’s a line… in the show that “one become eight” or “I am we.” So there eight main characters but at the same time you do realize that they are one. And there’s that theme of interconnectedness so deep in the show that all the characters become more and more “one.”

Naveen Andrews (NA): You do get the opportunity to follow each of the eight characters in their own movie so to speak. We found that these characters and their city have a symbiotic relationship. You get to see that with all eight.

SBC: There’s the intriguing idea that these characters share their thoughts and emotions… the idea of having such things like having a homosexual character on the show and the emotions behind it. How will we see such dramatic human emotions shared through these characters?

NA: It’s about sexuality, if we’re talking about those things. It’s about the common sexuality that we all share. And you get to explore that with a number of the characters.

DH: Yea. And it’s also about the prejudices and the struggles that they go through to feel and to be able to be and to express themselves…not just sexually but in other ways as well….We get to identify with them and have a greater understanding.

*The conference call was also attended by other media outlets that provided the following questions and answers*

Q: There’s a lot of secrecy surrounding this project. Can you tell me a little bit about how you each tackled a role when so little is even made available to the performer?

DH: It was really challenging. But that is what we do as actors. We have to use our imagination to fill in the blanks of who our characters were…it was also evolving as we were shooting…Lana and Andy were still drawing inspiration from the moment and bringing it into the story as we were shooting. It was quite an incredible creative process.

NA: Yea. I agree with Daryl completely on that because we were both sort of in the same boat….What we found, and it definitely relates to me,…was it wasn’t an intellectual understanding, it was emotional and visceral….

Q: You guys mentioned watching the whole series in one sitting. Is that how you suggest people watch it at home?

NA: That’s up to the individual. Handle with care. It’s very powerful and to have it all at once, again it depends on who you are. If it was a novel would you read it all the way through or would you take it chapter by chapter?

DH: There’s a particularly gratifying experience to be able to watch it all together. The series is so dense. It’s so complicated. I personally would’ve preferred to watch it and take it slower…and let it absorb because there’s so many things going on…It takes a while to process what you’ve just experienced because it’s so intense.

All 12 episodes of ‘Sense8’ are set to premiere Friday, June 5^th on Netflix.