Combining comedy and horror in time for Halloween, Amazon's new series Truth Seekers premieres on October 30. Produced by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg's company, Stolen Picture, it has many of the hallmarks of their previous collaborations even as it borrows from outside influences as well.
The story follows broadband installer Gus (Nick Frost) and his new work partner Elton (Samson Kayo) as they track paranormal sightings and commune with spirits. Between making peace with friendly ghosts and battling malevolent forces, the dynamic duo still have to deal with check-ins from their boss (played by Simon Pegg), their family members, and the mysterious new teammate Astrid (Emma D'Arcy).
At a recent press junket, Kayo and Frost spoke Screen Rant and other outlets about crafting the various bonds that keep the Truth Seekers together - with the added bonus of Frost tackling answers as both actor and screenwriter.
Samson and Nick, you have that great buddy cop dynamic, where it's a little bit tentative until the partnership develops. How did you find that chemistry together as the circle of friends grew?
Nick Frost: We wanted to put together a cool gang of people who would never really meet. It will be unlikely that they met, yet somehow they kind of all like each other. I want to watch people who get on and have a laugh; it's fun for me to as a viewer to watch that. I don't want to see people beefing all the time.
Samson's character, Elton, and Gus shouldn't really get on - they don't know each other, there's an age gap, there's a cultural difference. Yet they somehow like each other. I like that; I like to watch that as a relationship. I like to see that develop, and for them to be aware of that too. They kind of like that they are enjoying it, you know what I mean?
Samson Kayo: It also helps when on set, everyone's really cool too. There are lovely relationships that grew on the set, with everyone kind of looking after each other and having each other's back. That always helps.
Samson, you and Susan Wokoma make a great sibling pair. How did you form that bond offscreen?
Samson Kayo: Oh, easy. I've known Susie for years. Every time we see each other, we're like, "Yo, man. When are we going to do something together?" And then it just so happened that on this one, we're playing brother and sister, which is quite ironic.
In terms of the characters, it wasn't too difficult because Helen and Elton find strength in each other, which really complements them both. Helen, even with her situation, is very clever and can really help push Elton to be more confident, which is always a good thing. But yeah, Susie's my homie, man.
Nick Frost: From a [writer's perspective], I think there's a thing with Helen, where she almost wants to say, "Don't be like me. Be better than I am. Don't fall into this trap."
Nick, how do you balance Gus' grief over his wife with the light heartedness necessary for the show?
Nick Frost: We've spoken a lot, I think, today about trying to create believable human beings that an audience can relate to. I think we have all experienced loss in some way shape or form, and that's what people do. However way we cope with it; we talk about it, or we sit on it and it develops into something awful. This is what makes people human, and I think there's a part of us that we don't deal with.
We're always surprised when someone dies. Maybe we don't do it right, but this is what informs all of us. But I call it "putting the fun back into funeral," where you can have beers after a funeral and it's the fucking funniest day you've ever had, you know? That's kind of the really special thing about humans; you can suffer so much grief and loss, and yet 10 minutes later, you're laughing. We're pretty simple things, but it's kind of complicated. And I like that. If you capture 10% of that in a two-dimensional character on a television show, then I think people see that it's a human being.
Samson, I love the sweet dynamic that develops between Elton and Astrid. Can you talk a little bit about that friendship, or potentially more than friendship?
Samson Kayo: Yeah. Emma D'Arcy, who plays Astrid, is such a sweet person. She's such a giving actor, and she's so flipping good that their relationship i n the show kind of takes on its own journey. It's one of those unexpected romances that you're not thinking is going to go anywhere. But then for some reason, just because of the fact that they care for each other so much, it just blossomed into this sort of beautiful friendship, and then on from there.
Nick Frost: They're just not sure why, but there is a connection there. ...Let me just say, I love being the writer, because you can give some crazy bullshit answer like that. And it works! As long as you've got an answer, I've found, people are cool with it.
Samson Kayo: But it is a really good developing relationship that they have, and it will be good to see where that goes.
Nick Frost: In the original scripts, there was an incredibly passionate, sexual relationship between Richard [played by Malcolm McDowell] and Helen. We kind of got to a point where we thought, "Ah, it's kind of not working. It kind of feels weird now." It was a weird thing where they just saw each other, and it was a simpatico and a passion that they just had to have one another. It gets to a point when you look at Richard and [actress Susan Wokoma] and go, "Ah, it's just weird now."
Truth Seekers premieres October 30, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.