Stags star "mind-blown" by script of new dark comedy: "I could not predict anything"
"I can confidently say this was one of the first scripts where I could not predict anything that was about to happen."
![Stags-Paramount-Plus-Exclusive Nico Mirallegro, Asim Chaudhry and Corin Silva in Stags walking up a stone staircase while wearing yellow overalls and looking tired.](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/08/Stags-Paramount-Plus-Exclusive-750cc0a.jpg?quality=90&resize=980,654)
It seems as though we're in for the wildest of rides when it comes to Paramount Plus's latest release, Stags.
The new series follows a stag do gone terribly wrong, when instead of boarding their return flight back to the UK, Stu (Nico Mirallegro) and his friends are sent to a lawless prison run by two warring siblings.
And, as if that brief description doesn't already seem to lean on the wild side, it seems as though we're in for quite the roller coaster ride throughout the episodes.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com about their reactions to the script, Paul Forman said: "I was mind-blown by the script, I really was. That’s what drew me to this project. The writing’s fantastic."
![STAGS - Season 1 Cavan Clerkin as John, Sophie Lenlinger as Clem, Jojo Macari as Kai, Nico Mirallegro as Stu, Charlie Cooper as Ant, Paul Forman as Hugo and Asim Chaudhry as Greg in Stags gathered in a bar cheering together](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2024/06/STAGS101-20231115-CRSTILLS0234TRL2-ee3b387.jpg?quality=90&fit=700,467)
He went on: "I love cinema, I'm a huge cinephile, I watch theatre all the time, and when you do that you start to see patterns in storytelling.
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"But I can confidently say this was one of the first scripts where I could not predict anything that was about to happen. No twist, nothing. It just constantly keeps you on the edge of your seat.
"Huge kudos to him [Daniel Cullen]. He wrote a fantastic script. It was such a privilege to be able to be part of that. As an actor, you want to challenge yourself, you want to stretch yourself, and that project certainly did that."
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Similarly, Nico Mirallegro revealed: "It felt like one thing as you were reading it, and then by 10 pages in, it had evolved to another world and then another genre. And then you’re like, 'Oh God, now they've taken out one of my favourite characters.'
"So you’re constantly in this flux of not knowing where it's going to go, which is what I loved about it.
"It's just exciting. It's fresh. It's original. And if you meet Daniel, he's so much fun, so you see him in the writing, which I always love."
So, is the new series a thriller, a comedy, a plain-sailing drama? Well, Mirallegro admits that the series is "dark" but "there's comedy in there".
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"There's moments where you’re playing such sincerity, but then something funny happens midway, the theatrical nature of play is pulled in different directions, which was fun and challenging at the same," he explained.
Forman added: "And the stakes are so high, constantly, so it’s just so much fun to play with."
Speaking more about some of the dynamics we can likely see unfold, Mirallegro said: "From the off, the friendships are tested, even from the fun and finding out who wants to be involved in the party and who wants to be there and who doesn't, and then all of a sudden they're transported into this otherworldly prison.
"It's a real strange scenario. Everything's pulled to its last kind of thread and friendships are tested deeply."
Stags will debut exclusively on Paramount Plus in the UK on Thursday 15th August.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.