Snowpiercer star promises "surprises" for fans of the film
The TV series is similar but crucially different to Bong Joon-Ho's 2013 film, according to young actor Jaylin Fletcher
Years before he was winning multiple Oscars and gaining plaudits from mainstream cinema-goers the world over, Parasite director Bong-Joon Ho was expected to make his Western breakthrough with 2013 film Snowpiercer - a dystopian sci-fi starring Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton, adapted from an acclaimed graphic novel.
For various reasons - including a dispute with now disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein - the film never achieved much mainstream success, but it has since gained a cult following and now serves as the inspiration (alongside the original comic) for a new series, coming to Netflix in the UK in the near future and starring Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs among others.
And according to one of the stars of the series, although there are clear similarities between the film and the TV show viewers can expect something a little bit different from the 10-part series.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, young actor Jaylin Fletcher - who plays a character names Miles on the show - said that he was "definitely a fan" of the film but claimed the series isn't simply a retread.
"The film and the show have some similarities, but the TV show has its own storyline," he said. "And it has some pretty good surprises!"
Fletcher didn't give away too much information about any of the surprises, so fans will have to wait until the show's Netflix debut (a date for which is yet to be announced) before finding out what might lay in store.
As was the case in the big-screen version of the story, the show takes place on board a vast train that is constantly in motion, carrying its passengers round and round an Earth that has been reduced to a frozen wasteland.
Those on the train represent the last surviving remnants of humanity, and are trapped into a cruel and rigid class system which allows for vast inequality and little social mobility, naturally leading to a great deal of tension.
Fletcher has described his character as a "very optimistic, intelligent, and talented person" who is living in the worst section of the train, known to those on board as "the tail."
And he said that there were some tough aspects to playing the character, claiming that "a challenging aspect of playing Miles was trying to understand what a person who lost their parents but has new ones feels."
But even more challenging for Fletcher was picking out a scene from the show that he thinks particularly stands out, or a favourite moment from filming - simply because he loved the entire process.
"All of them were my favourite," he said. "It was ace all around!"
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Snowpiercer is coming to Netflix UK in the near future - in the meantime check out our list of the best TV shows on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
