‘You don’t really write stories about people who obey the rules because why would you?’
Ahead of the United States release of Rogue Heroes, creator Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and leading actor Connor Swindells sat down with ComingSoon to discuss the peculiarity of their project. The artists spoke about the series’ origins and the characters’ development in a merciless contest like World War II. Rogue Heroes will debut on Epix at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
“Rogue Heroes is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the Special Air Service (SAS), was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War II,” reads the synopsis. “Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, the series centers on David Stirling, an eccentric young officer who is hospitalized after a training exercise gone wrong. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, Stirling creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest, and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team is every bit as complicated, flawed, and reckless as it is brave and heroic.”
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Tudor Leonte: Steven, I would like to hear how did you come up with this project at first?
Steven Knight: Well, it was offered to me a book called ‘SAS Rogue Heroes.’ So I read that and was just immediately intrigued and astonished at the true story of what really happened and what these young men did, and they were very young. I couldn’t resist it. I had a bit of a personal connection that my dad was in the Eighth Army, so we fought for the British Army in North Africa during these campaigns in 1941. I’d never been able to find out from him what it was like, he would say, ‘We just used to play Cowboys and Indians,’ so I felt that research in this project would sort of help me find out what that experience really was like to him.
What is it that audience loves about Rogue Heroes?
Knight: In the UK, the response has been phenomenal. I mean, really phenomenal. The reviews have been fantastic, and just you get a feeling in the air just by talking to people about it because it’s been out for a while. Lots of people have watched the whole thing. It’s pretty much the strongest response I’ve ever had to a TV series. It’s such a pleasure, and hopefully, the reason for it is it’s real, real characters, but also it’s fun.
I was generally referring to rogue heroes, not just the series, but rogue heroes like in ‘rogue characters.’ Following up on that, it also seems that you in particular love rogue heroes, Tommy Shelby, David Sterling, and even Diana Spencer, if you want.
Knight: Yeah, I think, you know, there has to be a reason to write a story. You don’t really write stories about people who obey the rules because why would you? Therefore, I think, to begin with, the impetus to write something comes usually from someone doing something unexpected, something considered to be wrong, something innovative. I do think, since Robin Hood and way before Robin Hood, since the Greek myths, were all looking for someone who does the thing we only dream about doing.
Connor, this is not your first historical drama show, nor the first time you portray a character who existed in real life. I was curious to hear what research you did to identify with David Sterling.
Connor Swindells: I think it is the first character I’ve played in real life, unless there’s someone out there that I’ve done, I didn’t realize they’re a real person.
Perhaps the man working at the lighthouse in The Vanishing. Am I wrong in saying that he existed?
Swindells: You know what? You’re absolutely right.
I think he existed, but still. At any rate.
Swindells: Yeah. Sorry, your question was what, sorry?
Your research on David Sterling.
Swindells: Just the book, really. Reading Ben Macintyre’s book, as Steven mentioned, was a complete goldmine of fascinating stories. That was all I really needed to read about, and obviously, Steven’s scripts were all I needed to read about to get a mold for the character. All the other stuff that I read, I read things like David Sterling’s autobiography. They were just sort of embellishments and bonuses. I watched old videos of people like Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole, and I sort of just tried to step outside of myself and get out of my own way as much as possible. A lot of my performances come from sort of my own self, I think as most actors’ performances do, but this one was really about stepping outside and stepping into another person’s shoes. It was a great challenge that I really enjoyed.
And following up on your answer, is it getting easier to relate to your characters even when they’re so distant in time?
Swindells: I suppose, yes, I think. Obviously, I’ve never been through anything that David Sterling has been through. We’ve lived completely different lives. We grew up in completely different times, but I can relate to feeling frustrated even on a minor scale or a situation that I’ve been in. I think those are the experiences of those that I did draw upon in my own life, of which there are a few that I called upon to try to relate to that character. Just the kind of frustration, I mean, I can definitely be belligerent and cynical, which I think are two traits that David Sterling has. But ultimately I think, you know, prior to the answer I just gave before this, there were definitely ways in that there were ways to relate to him.
Steven, there is something about this series that reminds me of Casablanca. Is that one of the sources you took inspiration from?
Knight: You’re talking about the absolute classic depiction of the dilemma of war, I think, in not just the way it looked and the way it was performed and the way it was shot, but just that central thing, the central dilemma of the characters is so strong to even be in the same neighborhood or something like that would be fantastic. I’m not saying that it is, but certainly, if you are doing war in the desert, you’re also doing Casablanca.
Connor, part of your character’s journey is establishing his identity beyond his father’s name. What can you tell us about that journey for your character?
Swindells: I’ve spoken about this before, but it’s kind of an unquenchable thirst for acceptance and validation. I don’t know if he ever really got beyond the events that the story tells. It’s difficult because there’s a lot of his personality is crying out for acceptance and attention. A lot of his anger and resentment is obviously directed towards those that are above him, which I suppose parallels his own personal relationship with his father. Of course, there is that direct storyline that we see in the first episode or that it’s shown to us that that is a point of his character that holds him back. As the story goes on, he even more so tries to emulate his father. I can’t say, you know, just because of what happens in the story, I can’t spoil anything but just little mannerisms and things like that. He always has a pipe and things like that, and the first time we see his dad, he’s puffing on a great big pipe and so on. He’s definitely trying to, almost through I suppose traumatic reenactment, step back into his father’s footsteps, maybe to figure out who this person was a little bit more.
