Stagg isn’t a traditional war hero, something Scott clearly relished sinking his acting teeth into.
“I really enjoyed the way that Stagg was not interested in ingratiating himself with anybody,” he told BBC Culture correspondent David Sillito, calling him “a real fish out of water in this situation”.
The actor’s other starring roles couldn’t be more different, including romantic fantasy film All of Us Strangers, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, plus his memorable “hot priest” in TV’s Fleabag and the menacing Jim Moriarty in Sherlock, for which he won a Bafta. His award-winning stage roles include Vanya and Present Laughter.
In Pressure, Stagg is thrown into a high-stakes furnace of egos. He has to work with a team of meteorologists who robustly and publicly disagree with each other.
Stagg “wasn’t a particularly garrulous character” Scott says, which is partly why he was perhaps an unlikely hero.
“So many of the heroes in our own lives don’t have that big swashbuckling moment,” he says.
“And you know, a hero comes in all different shapes and sizes.
“I tried not to be afraid of the fact that perhaps, at the beginning, the audience might be like, ‘Who is this guy?’ And hopefully by the end we understand his motivations and his inner workings.”
