Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: Leo Hatton, no man's land

No Man's Land: Leo Hatton on Trusting the Process, Action & More

Leo Hatton spoke with Bleeding Cool about the mental and physical pressure of filming Hulu's No Man's Land, cast camaraderie, and more.

Leo Hatton has accomplished a lot in her career, which spans more than a decade since her debut in 50 Kisses in 2014. She's embraced her versatility and tackled new challenges with her run on the miniseries Queens, as well as her memorable roles in Postcards from London (2018) and the BBC's Silent Witness. Her latest is the Hulu geopolitical thriller No Man's Land, which follows the complications of the Syrian Civil War and the depths some are willing to go for survival. Created by Amit Cohen, Maria Feldman, and Ron Leshem, the series follows Antoine, a young Frenchman, Félix Moati, who is searching for his estranged, presumed dead sister Anna (Mélanie Thierry). In his travels, he ends up joining a unit of Kurdish female fighters and a ragtag group of international idealists who joined their cause to fight ISIS. Hatton plays Ellie Gordon, a Texas school teacher who travels to Syria to find her boyfriend, only to discover he joined ISIS and undergoes the process of being radicalized herself. She spoke to Bleeding Cool about her most intense scenes and cast camaraderie.

No Man's Land Star Leo Hatton on "Trusting the Process" on Intense Political Thriller

Bleeding Cool: What was the most challenging aspect of mentally and physically navigating Ellie's journey? Was there a particular scene that stood out?

There are two or three scenes during her journey that were quite challenging. One comes towards the end of this show, so I can't speak much about it, but it's a very high-octane, adrenaline-filled scene when all the ensemble, like the main four or five cast members you've been following the whole series. It's this epic moment of the show and it was niggling and bothering me. I could see it coming up in the schedule the whole time. We were shooting outside in the Moroccan desert, and we were losing the light. We didn't have much time, because it was natural light. I could see the sun going down, and I was like, "Oh, God! We're not going to have much time to do this." That's when… People say, "Trust the process," with your training and preparation, because you must throw yourself in. It was a big moment for Ellie as well, and so that was quite challenging but also exhilarating.

You can't think, just do, and you must throw yourself in and trust THE process and trust YOUR process. There's one standout scene I found very challenging, but also like, as I said, "Exhilarating!" Then there were these choices Ellie made throughout the show and her journey. They're deeply questionable, and raise big questions about her humanity and why, what's her motivation, and why would she choose to do that. There were a lot of conversations we were having with the writers, directors, and producers that were like, "Okay, we've got to make sure, since people made their choices, we've got to convey it in the truest way possible."

What was the atmosphere like with your co-stars and the camaraderie on set?

We all feel this way, but ['No Man's Land'] was such a special show to make. Everyone was so down-to-earth. Everyone was up for getting in the mud together. I'm from London and a Brit, and we had three other fellow Brits in James Krishna Floyd (Nasser Yassin), who's a consummate British actor. He was wonderful in the show and has been there since season one. Dean Ridge (Paul Wilkins), who was also there since season one, and it's great when you meet people who have already been on the show, and then bring you into the fold.

[James and Dean] were like brothers, and they became like brothers and mentors [to me]. They were wonderful. Dean, myself, and my co-star, Zed [Josef], who plays my love interest (Jake All-Shami), got on a house on fire as well. He's an honorary Brit, but he's actually Lebanese-Swiss. He's golden in the UK, so he feels very familiar to us. Dean, Zed, and I took a trip to Tangier when we had a filming break. We took the train down there, and so really got on. ['No Man's Land'] was a cool show to be a part of. Souhela [Yacoub], as well: she's the star and female lead, the babe. Sadly, she and I didn't share so much screen time, but I crossed over with her, and she was so wonderful to work with as well, and she was fun to have around.

Both seasons of No Man's Land are available on Hulu. You can also check out our previous interview.

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