Director Antoine Fuqua says collaborating with Hollywood star and close friend Chris Pratt on "The Terminal List" was his "favourite part" part about working on the Prime Video series.
Based on Jack Carr's book, "The Terminal List" marks the second project Fuqua and Pratt teamed up for following "The Magnificent Seven", a 2016 Western action film.
Both Fuqua and Pratt were chasing Carr's book, but their busy shooting schedules kept them from talking to each other.
The filmmaker, known for "Training Day", "Southpaw" and "The Equalizer" films, said it was "divine order" that brought him and the actor together for the upcoming show.
"I believe in divine order. It's just that sometimes the stars line up that way. He was just chasing the book, I was chasing the book. We're friends, we talk. We didn't mention the book because we were at the period I was filming, maybe 'The Equalizer' and he was doing maybe 'Jurassic World: Dominion'. So, we were in different places," the 57-year-old director told PTI in a Zoom interview from Los Angeles.
When Pratt found out that Fuqua was also interested in bringing the book to screen, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star suggested they join hands for the potential project.
"My buddy told me about the book, Chris' guy told him about the book. And, Chris called me and said 'I hear you are chasing this book as well. So, maybe we can do it together'. We worked on 'The Magnificent Seven' and had a great time together, we became friends... My favourite part about 'The Terminal List' was working with Chris again," he added.
"The Terminal List" follows James Reece (Pratt) after his entire platoon of US Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
"Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but the lives of those he loves," reads the official plotline of the series.
Calling the show a "thrilling" ride that explores the theme of humanity, the director said the audiences are in for some great performances.
"It's not just an action show, it deals with some real human struggles, some real emotions, and has some great acting," he said.
With "The Terminal List", he wanted to honour his friends, many of whom are Navy SEALs, he said.
"I wanted to honour them and a lot of them worked on the project with us. It's important to always give those guys purpose, and work, and show how much we appreciate them as well."
Fuqua, who began his career directing music videos featuring the likes of Toni Braxton, Stevie Wonder and Prince, said cinema was his "first love".
"My first love would be movies," he said, adding streamers had changed the small-screen experience forever.
"TV has changed because everyone has a big screen, their own home theatre. Streamers obviously allow you to have a big show like this, eight episodes. It's like one big, long movie as far as I'm concerned," the director, also known for the critically acclaimed documentary "What's My Name: Muhammad Ali", said.
It was "tough" for him to adjust to the long-form storytelling, he admitted.
"There is a difference just because it's broken into these smaller episodes. That's tough, because you have to get your brain wrapped around that. Sometimes I find myself filming these long cinematic shots and then I'm like 'Uh, I'm going to have to cut that' because that is never going to make it into the series."
Fuqua also praised writer-showrunner David DiGilio for retaining the "essence" of Carr's novel while adapting it.
"David DiGilio did a great job. Also, Jack Carr was involved all through, he was a partner. We didn't change anything, we made sure we stayed true to the book and the characters," he said.
"The Terminal List" explores mental health issues such as survivor's guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through its characters, and the director said many times the viewers don't want to hear what entertainers have to say about these sensitive topics.
"They just want us to entertain them. At times, part of our job is to smuggle in those important subjects through entertainment. And it allows these conversations to happen. The idea that with cinema or any art form through a proper platform, you can see PTSD or mental illness in different forms. We have to learn how to identify it, it's not always like a guy running around like crazy and talking to himself," he added.
Citing the example of his films "Training Day" and "The Guilty", Fuqua said sometimes it is easy to call someone with "a sickness" a criminal.
"But sometimes, something is wrong. We have to explore what it looks like. Sometimes, someone who is just sitting in a corner who seems to be the nicest person in the world does something unspeakable. So, in movies, TV or any other format, you can address or highlight an issue through entertainment and hope someone talks about it."
"The Terminal List" is executive produced by Pratt and Jon Schumacher through Indivisible Productions, Antoine Fuqua through Fuqua Films, DiGilio, Carr, along with writer Daniel Shattuck.
It also stars Constance Wu, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Riley Keough, Arlo Mertz, Jai Courtney, JD Pardo,and Patrick Schwarzenegger, among others.
The series premiered Friday on Prime Video.
[With Inputs From PTI]
