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Prime Target

 

A genius mathematician is on the verge of a breakthrough when an unseen enemy tries to destroy it in Prime Target

When brilliant young math post-graduate Edward Brooks finds himself on the verge of an academic breakthrough at Cambridge, where is he trying to identify patterns in prime numbers, the last thing he imagines is that he has created the world’s most powerful weapon. In Prime Target, from Sherlock-writer (and former math teacher) Steve Thompson, the chase for the surprised protagonist is on, to neutralize a tool that could change the course of civilization. But this threat is no bomb nor terrorist group. What is certain to destroy the world as we known it is the key to every computer on the planet.

Prime Target on Apple TV+. Pictured: Quintessa Swindell is American NSA agent Taylah Sanders, who’s been assigned to monitor Edward’s activities.
Apple TV+

Not that hacking the world’s banks or security systems was ever young Edward’s intent. “He’s coming from a place of being a purist,” explains Leo Woodall, who portrays the math genius suddenly being aggressively pursued by people he does not know. “He’s someone who is just so in love with the math that he is designed to need to know the answer. One of the main arcs in his story is realizing how dangerous it is, what he’s been doing, and how dangerous he becomes — and how much responsibility he has with that knowledge.”

After making a name for himself in season two of The White Lotus and the Netflix adaptation of One Day, Woodall was looking for a project that would allow him to stretch as an actor. When reclusive mathematician Edward Brooks came his way, the role seemed to allow for just that. “My own personality is very social, friendly and being a people person. Edward is so not that,” he says. “It required me to reject a lot of my own traits and habits, to be able to embody him. It was tough. I didn’t like not smiling at people.” What the English actor did enjoy was the fast-paced thriller aspect of the series. “I loved the mystery. I loved the conspiracy aspect,” he says. “Something that this show does very well is leaving you slightly in the dark a lot of the time. You need to know what happens next.” 

Prime Target on Apple TV+. Pictured: Quintessa Swindell is American NSA agent Taylah Sanders and Leo Woodall as Edward Brooks.
Apple TV+

The propulsive elements of the show were also what drew Woodall’s American co-star, Quintessa Swindell to the job. But more than just loving being on the run, Swindell was eager to explore the mysterious backstory of Taylah Sanders, the NSA agent tasked with monitoring Leo and eventually helping the mathematician escape from the people she works for. “She is consistently experiencing this grief that came from something that happened to her when she was a little bit younger,” teases Swindell. “For me, that was something that I identified with, personally. And Taylah’s journey of exploring her grief and her sense of duty to protect all people around her, is something that I experience throughout my every day. So being able to play that was definitely cathartic.”

Taylah’s past, and the character’s desire to do the right thing, is what inspires her to come to Edward’s rescue. But as their relationship evolves, Taylah’s need for her protégé to acknowledge his own responsibility in the matter grows. “Edward is blindsided by the power that he ends up obtaining unconsciously. Taylah is the one that recognizes that and then poses the question of accountability. Has he ever understood being accountable? Because I think Taylah has asked herself that over years, trying to hold herself accountable,” says Swindell. “So, when Taylah sees someone not knowing the risk that they pose to others, she begins trying to get him to understand that, while also protecting him.”

While action elements always make film and television production more challenging, in the case of this new drama the real trials were elsewhere entirely. “There’s definitely a challenge in having to memorize six-foot boards worth of mathematics that isn’t even numbers – it’s shapes and letters,” says Woodall. “And you have to get every single one right in the right order and not pause for too long. That was a technical challenge, but I had help with camera and the editor.” Apparently, cutting sound and having someone yell instructions off-camera would not have aided Woodall’s concentration. “That would’ve been so much more confusing. I preferred going home and just learning it,” admits the actor, who memorized the equations by, “just doing it over and over and over and over again.” The question is if imitating genius actually fosters it? Woodall chuckles. ”That’s the narrative that I’m trying to feed. Yeah.”

Prime Target begins streaming on Wednesday, February 5 on Apple TV+

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