{"id":650700,"date":"2025-12-23T16:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/650700\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T16:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:26:11","slug":"itv-series-red-eye-stars-preview-season-2-set-in-london-us-embassy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/650700\/","title":{"rendered":"ITV Series ‘Red Eye’ Stars Preview Season 2 Set in London US Embassy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRed Eye<\/a>, a six-part British thriller series from Bad Wolf<\/a> and Sony Pictures Television<\/a>, became a ratings hit for ITV<\/a> in 2024. Created by Peter A. Dowling and starring Jing Lusi (Crazy Rich Asians<\/a>, Gangs of London), Richard Armitage<\/a>, Jemma Moore<\/a> and Lesley Sharp<\/a> (Pillion), it followed London police officer Hana Li (Lusi) escorting Dr. Matthew Nolan (Armitage) back to Beijing, where he has been accused of a crime.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, Red Eye<\/a> returns to ITV1 and STV at 9 p.m. on New Year\u2019s Day, with the series also streaming on ITVX and STV Player. <\/p>\n

\n\tInstead of an airplane, this time, the setting is an embassy. Joining Lusi, Moore and Sharp this season is guest star Martin Compston (Line of Duty<\/a>, Vigil). The Scottish actor plays Clay Brody, the head of security at the U.S. Embassy in London. Brody and Li are forced to set aside past differences after a murder occurs inside the embassy.<\/p>\n

\n\tTHR talked to Compston and Lusi about working together on season 2 of Red Eye and what audiences can expect.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor me as an actor, I felt like the first season was quite easy, because I was kind of trapped in one place,\u201d Lusi shared. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have much choice but to be trapped in that place. It was: either I stand or I sit. Whereas for the second season, we were in this giant building the whole time. So there was a lot more movement. And it was very intentional why I was going to these places.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tLooking at Compston, she added: \u201cAnd especially with him on my tail?\u201d Both stars laughed. \u201cHis character would say: \u2018No, you can\u2019t go here. No, you can\u2019t go there. Stop. Stop!\u201d He was always getting in my way.\u201d Which plays to the determination of Lusi\u2019s character, Li. \u201cI had to fight for my choices a bit more this season,\u201d the actress tells THR. \u201cI\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019m going to go here,\u2019 and also have an argument with him every step of the way. So, you see Li in a more expansive place where she\u2019s got to take more decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe no-nonsense, strict Brody, who clearly wants to regain control following the murder at the embassy, seems quite different from the personable Compston, including in his way of speaking, which early in season 2 is mostly short, concise and intense. \u201cThat dialogue is just the way it\u2019s written. And the character and the situation he is in lends itself to speaking that way,\u201d the actor tells THR. \u201cYou have to be kind of heightened, because you\u2019re thinking in your head and just talking to [staff] through an earpiece or [a communication device] on your wrist. In reality, Brody is talking to 50, 60 agents. So, every order has to be clear and concise. So, it actually really forces you to play it that way, because you need to be understood by everybody in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow was joining the second season of a hit series? \u201cIt was a very welcoming set,\u201d Compston shared. \u201cJing and Lesley and the team already had a winning formula. The show was already a massive success by the time I joined it. So it was really nice pressure coming into it. They\u2019ve got an inbuilt viewership, so you\u2019re just thinking, \u2018Let\u2019s try and take it to the next level.\u2019 Everybody was really supportive from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLusi and Compston met on Red Eye for the first time. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know each other,\u201d Lusi tells THR. \u201cBut I was such a fan of Martin\u2019s work. Honestly! For season one, I watched two shows for research, figuring out the vibe of Red Eye, and so I watched Line of Duty [and Happy Valley].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCompston is also friends with the show\u2019s director, Kieron Hawkes. \u201cHe mentioned him in the first season because I was like, \u2018I know I\u2019m a bit late to the party, but I just watch this show called Line of Duty.\u2019 And Kieron said: \u2018Oh, he\u2019s one of my friends.\u201d So we talked about him. And the fact that Martin came to join season 2 was slightly surreal. I was overjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo was Compston. \u201cKieron is one of my closest friends. So I was a fan of the first [season]. I watched it for Kieron and then got hooked in. And I said it was a lovely dynamic between Jing and Richard in the first [season]. So you just want to kind of tap into that and keep it going. I mean, the guy\u2019s a movie star, so I had, literally, big shoes to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLusi acknowledged that first days on set with a co-star you don\u2019t know in person yet can be challenging. \u201cI always find them really awkward,\u201d she shared. \u201cYou don\u2019t know the person very well, and you\u2019ve got to play like you don\u2019t like them. But maybe I really like you. If we could be friends first, I would feel more comfortable playing that. I guess it adds to it. But for me, it was like, \u2018Oh, I wish we could do a nice scene first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actor is looking forward to the special feeling of a primetime hit show. \u201cIt is exciting to think that everybody\u2019s going to be watching,\u201d he highlighted. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a good show like that, and you\u2019ve got [episodes and segments] ending on a cliffhanger, you feel like you\u2019ve got the nation in the palm of your hand. And there\u2019s no better feeling as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe dynamic between the two stars\u2019 characters adds to the mystery of the show. Without spoiling things, Lusi tells THR that the duo worked on the backstory of their characters after getting the broad strokes from the show creators. \u201cWe needed to go a bit deeper, be a bit more specific, because it could be anything,\u201d she shared. \u201cAnd we wanted me and Martin to be on the same page, so that I\u2019m not playing based on this crazy love story and he\u2019s playing like we fell out over a parking ticket.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tFiguring out that back story freed up the stars. \u201cAfter that, it was a lot easier for me,\u201d Lusi emphasized. In season 1 of Red Eye, \u201cwe were discovering everything in the moment, because the two characters had no history. But with with Martin\u2019s character, Brody, we have such a deep history with a massive gap in between. So, everything you say will be triggering something that I\u2019m probably not even conscious of as a character, but as an actor, you do have to be conscious of it. So, that also made my work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCompston shared this about how Brody feels about Li: \u201cHe believes she\u2019s out her depth. They are in competing worlds. He\u2019s like: \u2018This is my square mile.\u2019 They both have their kind of zones.\u201d He added: \u201cThey don\u2019t fully trust each other, and they\u2019re constantly trying to get rid of each other as well. That little spikiness is fun to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, audiences have mystery, banter, and a lot of twists to look forward to in season 2 of Red Eye. There\u2019s one more thing you may be curious about: do the stars have any experience with or tips for red-eye flights? <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDon\u2019t take a red eye,\u201d Lusi told THR without hesitation. \u201cYou will not sleep.\u201d Meanwhile, Compston offered: \u201cI do like flying at night. I hear about all these cures, but I think none of them work. If you can avoid having a drink, I definitely think that\u2019s work. But where\u2019s the fun in that? Yeah, if you get off a plane, avoid having a drink and go for a run or something, that\u2019s probably the best way to get through it.\u201d Quipped Lusi: \u201cGod, you\u2019re so healthy.\u201d To which Compston replied: \u201cBut I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever done it. I did it once for a job like because I had an audition, and it worked great. But I\u2019ve never done it since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the trailer for season 2 of Red Eye below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Eye, a six-part British thriller series from Bad Wolf and Sony Pictures Television, became a ratings hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[67913,748,393,4884,522,208,257,199146,121214,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-650700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-bad-wolf","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-international","13":"tag-itv","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-red-eye","16":"tag-sony-pictures-television","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115769821277927299","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}