'Sugar' executive producer says 'lines were blurring' between Colin Farrell and John Sugar
"Colin is a very charming, enigmatic, witty human, and John Sugar has all of those traits too," Audrey Chon said
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When you start watching the new Apple TV+ series Sugar, starring Colin Farrell, everything you think you've figure out about this crime drama will be completely twisted by the end of the show. The series, also starring Kirby, Dennis Boutsikaris, Nate Corddry, James Cromwell and Amy Ryan, is a detective tale mixed with a sort love letter to classic movies.
Farrell plays private investigator John Sugar who we first meet in Tokyo while he's working to retrieve the kidnapped child of a yakuza boss. His next assignment brings him to Los Angeles, hired by Jonathan Siegel (Cromwell), a famed Hollywood producer, to find his missing granddaughter Olivia (Sydney Chandler).
But Sugar's boss Ruby (Kirby) doesn't want him taking another case, initially referencing issues with fatigue and being overworked, but she clearly has a bit of a soft sport for him and ultimately helps Sugar with what he needs to start the job.
Where to watch Sugar: Apple TV+
Sugar release date: April 5
Cast: Colin Farrell, Kirby, Amy Ryan, Dennis Boutsikaris, Alex Hernandez, Lindsay Pulsipher, James Cromwell, Sydney Chandler
Directors: Fernando Meirelles and Adam Arkin
Number of episodes: 8
As Sugar gets deeper into the investigation, the audience also learns more about Sugar himself, an aficionado of noir films, with images from classic movies flashing through his mind, and the screen.
"I think Colin and John Sugar in many ways are very similar," executive producer Audrey Chon told Yahoo Canada. "Colin is a very charming, enigmatic, witty human, and John Sugar has all of those traits too."
"But he also brought so much of this charisma and his physical mannerisms to the role too. And often on set, you would watch Colin be Colin, and Colin be John Sugar, and the lines were blurring, you weren't exactly sure where Sugar started and ended."
Watch Sugar on Apple TV+ with 7 days free, then $12.99/month
Partnership between Kirby and Colin Farrell's characters
For Kirby, being able to step into a role that was similar to M in James Bond was particularly appealing and "exciting" for the actor, in addition to getting the opportunity to work with Farrell.
"What really appealed to me was knowing that Colin was attached," Kirby told Yahoo Canada. "I've been a huge fan of his, I think he's a fantastic actor and has a really broad range of work, which I think can be quite difficult to do, to not be boxed in."
It was also interesting for the actor to play the dynamic between Sugar and Ruby, where you know there's an affection there, but you're not entirely sure how to describe their personal relationship.
"Their relationship is very meaningful, they mean a lot to each other, but ... you don't quite know what exactly that is and where that will go," Kirby said. "But I think that was just born of a good working relationship off screen that translated into good chemistry on screen."
'Movies and TV shows have been a window into humanity'
A core element to the storytelling of Sugar is the integration of clips from classic noir movies that Sugar references throughout the series.
"Seeing those images, seeing those clips was absolutely interesting to me," Kirby said. "When I watch I am watching like you, as an audience member."
"Seeing these classic moments from cinema throughout history and film noir layered into the story, I think added so much more depth to it, so much more nuance. You understood Sugar so much more. You understood the world so much more. And I think it's really both helpful [and] engaging for people who don't have any experience of film noir, who don't have that encyclopedic knowledge of it. ... It's almost a crash course in that genre, but then you get to see it reimagined."
Chon added, in a separate interview, that these images also enable the audience to understand Sugar's comprehension of "human emotion."
"Historically, movies and TV shows have been a window into humanity and you can learn lessons from watching movies and TV shows," Chon said. "So for Sugar, who has a bit of an outsider perspective, those were his references to understand human emotion."
"So I think whether or not an audience member knows those film clips that we're using, I think they'll stand on [their] own, based on why we picked them and what they're articulating in those moments."
Watch Sugar on Apple TV+ with 7 days free, then $12.99/month
But if you're thinking the detective genre for films and TV has been particularly saturated, Chon highlighted that there's uniqueness in the style of Sugar that's reminiscent of classic noir films, which aren't often explored in present day entertainment.
"I think it's the character of John Sugar, who feels like a classical leading man living in the modern world, but he's also very kind and sensitive," Chon said. "I think that you don't often see those traits in TV characters today."
"I also think that Fernando Meirelles' directing style, it gave it a distinct tone and aesthetic. So it feels like it's adding to the tradition of great neo-noir films."
Sugar premieres on Apple TV+ April 5 with new episodes weekly on Fridays
