Archie Panjabi talks about her tense thriller ‘Hijack’

The new Apple TV+ series Hijack stars well-known actress Archie Panjabi in the role of counter-terrorist agent Zarah, who gets a tip that there has been a “serious incident” on board a plane bound for London.

The much-talked-about series also features Idris Elba who plays Sam Nelson, an accomplished corporate negotiator – who tries to use his professional skills to save everyone on board.

The first two episodes of the series debuted June 28 on Apple TV+.

Panjabi, who previously starred on Departure and Snowpiercer, talks about the qualities she relished the most about playing Zarah on Hijack.

“She is quick-witted. She has got a dry sense of humour, but one of the qualities I relished the most about playing her is she can be quite abrasive. She is not afraid to say what she thinks; instead of just calmly saying, ‘Can we have a conversation?’ she’ll just bang on the glass door or she walks (straight) into the room,” said the 51-year-old

The actress reveals she looked at someone she knows for inspiration for playing the character.

“I have always been very intrigued by people’s idiosyncrasies from a very young age, and then copying them, enjoying that whole process of imitating. The more and more I work, as soon as I see something that stands out from somebody on the street or somebody that I know, I just file it inside and hope that it will be useful for my next role,” she said.

Hijack is streaming on Apple TV+ now, with new episodes dropping weekly.

Stay tuned to this space for more updates!