The Tourist cast is filled with star power, actors you've heard of, others that are newer, and of course Irish heartthrob Jamie Dornan. However, one of the most notable characters, Agent Lachlan Rogers, was originally to be played by actor Hugo Weaving.
TV buffs have been glued to the new Jamie Dornan thriller, from start to finish. After The Tourist ending left them reeling, fans are wondering will there be The Tourist season 2 and, if so, which cast members are likely to return.
However, it transpires that a pretty major character in the series could have been played by a totally different actor. Creators of the show, brothers Harry and Jack Williams, spoke to RadioTimes.com and explained what happened.
Initially, actor Hugo was due to play Agent Lachlan Rogers but he had to give up the role a week before the show began shooting owing to scheduling conflicts.
Harry said, “It was very last minute because it was a schedule thing and those things can always happen so they’re always really last minute and a bit of a panic. Luckily, Damon Herriman was around, who’s just an incredible actor.”
The series, made in collaboration with BBC One, Stan, HBO Max, and ZDF is an eerie thriller in the Australian outback. As the series was filmed in Adelaide, Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, getting an actor on set short notice was a huge challenge.
Jack said, "He was only just around, he was literally about to get a flight to Los Angeles that day and we got him on a Zoom and persuaded him to stay after about two hours, which was a relief."
He added, “So we got really lucky that he hadn’t quite left the country because he’s absolutely superb and I’ve always loved him. He was great in Justified from what I remember seeing him in first, so persuading him to stay was a great moment.”
Despite the huge stress involved in recasting the role, Harry said it's worked out well.
“The number of times we’ve had to cast people at the last minute and then you go, ‘I can’t imagine it without them’," he said. "Hugo Weaving is a great actor but I think Damon gives something, if I’m just being honest, that’s far more surprising and interesting than we would have got from Hugo.”
How to watch the tourist online
The Tourist's first season is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now, for UK-based viewers.
Australian fans can catch up online on Stan, the show’s Australian co-producer. With the Stan 30-day free trial, you can watch all of The Tourist for free as you decide whether a full subscription is right for you.
The Tourist is also set to air on HBO Max, another co-producer, though the network are yet to confirm a US release date.
In the meantime, US thriller lovers hoping to watch The Tourist might consider using a VPN to stream this show. This super-smart software changes your IP address so that streaming services like BBC iPlayer think you’re in the UK.
Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. They say, “It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Express.”
