The ‘Towards Zero’ Cast Reveal On-Set Secrets—And Why None of Them Guessed the Killer! (EXCLUSIVE)
None of them guessed who the murderer was—and neither did we!
Everyone loves a good murder mystery—especially when the suspects include a bitter ex-wife, a glamorous new bride, a wealthy tennis star, a mysterious assistant and a long-lost relative. That’s exactly what makes Towards Zero, the latest Agatha Christie adaptation on BritBox, such a must-watch. First for Women had a front-row seat at the Towards Zero premiere, where the cast and director revealed juicy behind-the-scenes secrets from the set. Scroll down for everything we learned!
Director Sam Yates talks about recreating the 1930s
Towards Zero takes place in the late 1930s, and according to director Sam Yates, getting there in terms of the set, costuming and language was both “interesting and beautiful.”
“It’s a great period. It’s an interesting period because it’s post World War I, but everyone had this growing sense that something bad was around the corner,” he continued. “The look and feel of the place, the landscape, the food and the language is so important.”
Before Towards Zero, the 41-year-old Brit had directed Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019), National Theater Live: Vanya (2024) and Magpie (2024).
‘Towards Zero’ stars on the love triangle that drives the drama
One of the show’s most important plotlines is the love triangle between Neville Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), his ex-wife Audrey Strange (Ella Lily Hyland) and his new wife Kay Elliott-Strange (Mimi Keene). All of them seem to hate each other, making their stay at Lady Tressilian’s (Anjelica Huston) one bumpy ride.
“It was such a tumultuous relationship,” Jackson-Cohen said of Neville and Audrey’s love story. “I feel really lucky that Ella played Audrey, because I think we have a very similar way of working and it felt kind of instantaneous, which you don’t always get. Sometimes you have to work to crack through to someone, but the minute Ella walked into the rehearsal room, I remember feeling such ease.”
Hyland echoed similar thoughts, telling First for Women, “I think these characters are so intertwined, and their identities so linked with each other, that it was great that the both of us had similar ways of working, because you don’t feel like a weirdo being, like, ‘I just wondered about this, or I’m worried about this.’”
Keene, however, viewed the love triangle through a different lens, saying, “I think it’s always really difficult when you’re telling a story that has already been told, and you’re sort of torn because you want to stay loyal to the material, because it’s so brilliant and it’s so iconic, but then at the same time, you want to give people something fresh.”
“That was a really hard balance to achieve, but everyone did such an amazing job. If you know the story well, and you’re a massive Agatha Christie fan, you would still get everything you would want to see from the story. But if you are new, I think you would feel the same way. I don’t think the fans would feel it wasn’t true to the story, but they’d still be excited. It’s perfect, but hard to do.”
The actress also shared that above all else, she thinks the show really embodies “sexy murder,” which was helped by her character’s costuming, nails and makeup.
Why Anjana Vasan was surprised by her own role
Anjana Vasan, who plays Lady Tressilian’s companion, revealed that she didn’t read the bestselling novel the show is based on before filming—and for a good reason.
“I didn’t know the book, so when I read the script, I didn’t know where it was going. I wasn’t sure if I was the culprit or an innocent, and that made me want to do it,” she revealed. “When you read and guess who it is, you sort of go, ‘This is pretty predictable,’ but because the scripts genuinely entertained me. I was like, ‘Okay, I think this is a good one to do.’”
Following her casting, Vasan said she had even gone back and “watched a couple more Agatha Christies.”
“Her characters are not very human, and they are extremely relatable, despite the costume, the setting, the class and all of that. So that’s the thing that always surprises me. I’ve not done a lot of period stuff, but whenever I do it, it’s a lot more modern than you think it is. That was a surprising discovery that I had.”
Vasan and the rest of the cast at the premiere revealed that they did not manage to guess the murderer and were pleasantly surprised when they eventually found out. Did you guess whodunnit?
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