‘Taboo’ Stars Talk James and Zilpha’s Incestuous Relationship, Working With Tom Hardy

Episode 3 of FX’s Taboo had big movement in two storylines: Tom Hardy’s James revealed his plan to Michael Kelly’s American doctor/merchant/spy Dumbarton (he will cede sovereignty of his precious gateway to whichever nation offers him its monopoly on the trade of furs for tea), and Zilpha (Oona Chaplin), James’s married half-sister, straddled him in a chapel before insisting, “Now, I never want to see you again.”

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When we recently caught up with Chaplin, Kelly, and their co-star David Hayman (Brace), we discovered they agree on one thing: The relationship between James and Zilpha is electric on screen. “I just want them to jump into the sack together,” Hayman admitted.

“Exactly,” Chaplin said. “What kind of series makes you root for a bother and a sister to finally get it on [again], in a chapel. You’re like, ‘Yes! Thank god that happened! No! Blasphemy! No! Incest! No! Terrible! But I’m so happy!”

The trio, however, differ on whether they feel at all sorry for Zilpha’s husband, Thorne Geary (Jefferson Hall), who’s becoming more and more unglued as he feels threatened by the siblings’ chemistry and the fact that he hasn’t been able to conceive a child with Zilpha. Watch the video above to see which one of them feels some sympathy for Geary.

Related: ‘Taboo’ Review: Tom Hardy Is Scary

In the video below, Kelly lightens the mood by sharing the story of his first day working with Hardy, filming the scene in Episode 3 in which Dumbarton stitches up a wounded James while pressing him for information on what he’s really after. Spoiler alert: Hardy’s language is just as TV-MA between takes.

Taboo airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.