Hollywood royalty Jeff Goldblum and Janet McTeer join forces for Netflix’s new fantasy drama series Kaos, when the actors combine their considerable star power to play the vengeful Zeus and his wife Hera — king and queen of the Greek gods.
Created by Charlie Covell (End of the F***ing World, Truelove), the eight-parter opens with the all-powerful, leisurewear-loving Zeus living his best life on Mount Olympus — until he discovers a wrinkle on his forehead. The arrival of this fateful line sparks more than an immortal midlife crisis, however, as it heralds an ancient prophecy that foretells Zeus' fall from power, and he starts seeing omens of doom everywhere.
His wife (also his sister!) Hera initially dismisses his concerns, but she soon realises that she needs to rein him in, to prevent the end of her idyllic existence.
What to Watch joined Jeff Goldblum, 71, and Janet McTeer, 63, to find out more…
Kaos interview with Jeff Goldblum and Janet McTeer
What appealed to you about this project?
Jeff Goldblum: “Charlie Covell is the answer to that question.They’re terrific and their writing is unique, wildly funny, emotional, soulful and unexpected.”
Janet McTeer: “Yes, Kaos is such an inventive and creative reworking of the Greek myths, and very much an allegory of modern times.You can watch it if you know nothing about the Greek myths or a lot about them, it’s witty regardless. It's a fantastic story, full of ideas of conscience and fate, rich people and poor people, death and what all of that means.”
Can you explain the premise?
Janet McTeer: “Zeus finds a prophecy about the fall of power and starts to get really neurotic about it. Hera’s been married to him for thousands of years, so in the beginning she just pats his hand and tells him it’s all fine. But, as it goes on, she realises his neurosis is going to bring about the fall of the whole empire.”
Jeff Goldblum: “It's darkly funny. The show is about power, love and dysfunctional families and Charlie’s version of Zeus is surprising, complicated, charismatic and cruel, of course!”
The cast is an impressive who’s who. Have you enjoyed working with such a wide variety of actors?
Jeff Goldblum: “I love the whole cast! Nabhaan Rizwan plays Dionysus, Stephen Dillane stars as Prometheus, Billie Piper is Cassandra, Debi Mazur is Medusa, and David Thewlis and Cliff Curtis, are Zeus’s brothers Hades and Poseidon. It’s a real collaboration.”
Janet McTeer: “All the characters are fun and, as it goes on, they become more duplicitous and dangerous. Jeff’s phenomenal; his Zeus is unutterably powerful, charming and eccentric. What's not to love? Hera adores him. She’s the most selfish, evil character I've ever played, and I love it!”
In what way are your characters despicable?
Janet McTeer: “Hera’s often jealous because Zeus keeps going off and having half human babies. If she catches up with them, she'll kill them and turn their mothers into bees. She loathes Dionysus because he’s half-human and has turned his mother into a bee to torture him! Meanwhile, Zeus is just wandering around in his tennis outfit killing ball boys, it's really funny.”
Jeff Goldblum: “I don’t want to spoil too much, but I can say that Zeus has an interesting relationship with Prometheus. He’s his confidant and dear friend but, for reasons you’ll discover, Zeus has confined him to a cliffside to have his liver eaten every day by an eagle. So, Prometheus has reason to impact the whole tapestry of this alternate universe!”
Did you base your characters on anyone?
Janet McTeer: “No, in the beginning we worked on getting the tone of the piece, which is a cross between classical and every-day family drama. If someone annoys a god, they might well kill them, which is tricky to think about. You have to compartmentalise it. In the end I found myself thinking, she’s someone who thinks of humans as ants or wasps and doesn’t feel bad or get upset about killing them.”
Jeff Goldblum: “Nobody in particular, the character has been handed down through the ages and portrayed by different people, but Charlie’s new fangled version is on the page so I drew on their fresh vision.”
It sounds like you had a lot of fun making this. Would you be up for a second series?
Jeff Goldblum: “It was as creative and fun an experience as I've had. If there are more series, we may go further in drawing further out Zeus’ backstory, because Charlie knows much about it!”
Janet McTeer: “Oh yes, I think there should be. I love being part of something new and I had a ball doing it. I have said, however, I will only do a second series if I have scenes with Eddie Izzard. Although Eddie might say ‘No thanks!’”
All eight episodes of Kaos are available to watch on Netflix from 29 August 2024.
