The new Chris Pratt action-drama The Terminal List, debuting Friday on Amazon Prime Video, is about a Navy SEAL who loses his unit, his family is being threatened, and isn’t sure whom he can trust.
Not only is the series intense, so was making it, with Pratt telling ABC Audio, “It’s a surprise. Hopefully it’ll be unlike anything anyone has ever seen me do.”
Those intense moments were punctuated with moments of levity, though, because that’s what Navy SEALS do.
“They’re cracking jokes. They’re saying inappropriate [things] in the middle of combat…surrounded by destruction and death and uncertainty,” Pratt explains. “They’re still checking in with each other by being funny.”
The Terminal List is based on the bestselling book from Jack Carr, a former Navy SEAL himself who says he wrote it with Pratt in mind, and that “he crushed it.”
“I got to see that transformation in Parks and Rec to playing a steel operator in Zero Dark 30. So that’s what initially kind of cued me off,” Carr shares, adding that this was before Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, and Avengers. “I thought Chris Pratt is the only person to bring this to life.”
As for what to expect? “I think Chris called it early on ‘tradecraft set against paranoia,’ and it was that tone that makes it very different than other conspiracy thrillers or military thrillers that you’ve seen before,” showrunner Dave DiGilio teases. “There’s a lot more layers to this show.”
Despite the setting, the themes are relatable to everyone, according to director Antoine Fuqua.
“Empathy, love, revenge, justice. There’s certain things that don’t change,” Fuqua says. “That’s the thing that we all relate to.”
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