T'Nia Miller loved "vicious" character in treasure hunt drama La Fortuna
The Haunting of Bly Manor star appears opposite Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters in a star-studded international series.
Having won rave reviews for her performances in Years and Years (2019) and The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), T'Nia Miller's next project sees her tackle a "vicious" character in an all-star drama also featuring Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters.
La Fortuna is the first television series from Oscar-winning writer/director Alejandro Amenábar (The Others, The Sea Inside) – filmed in Spain, this dual-language thriller follows young diplomat Álex Ventura (Álvaro Mel) as he works to recover an underwater shipwreck seized by treasure hunter Frank Wild (Tucci), with Miller cast as Wild's formidable lawyer Susan McLean.
"Oh my God, she's a fighter," Miller told RadioTimes.com. "She's vicious, and great fun. She really is about that American dream and getting what's hers."
La Fortuna, she added, is a "nostalgic, treasure hunt, love story that takes place across two continents. It's so beautifully shot – the cinematography is stunning – and it's kind of leading the way in being multilingual, and that's a beautiful thing."
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As the inexperienced Álex goes up against the cunning Frank, Miller thinks viewers might not be sure who to root for – if indeed they should root for anybody. "All the characters are very passionate about their own viewpoints and I think it's for the audiences to decide if there is a wrong or right, if there is a villain and a hero, or if there are any heroes at all.
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"I think that's what's gonna come into question, if people really sit with it and take stock of what's happened. That's the interesting part of this story."
Though there's a glamour to the series courtesy of its gorgeous locations and themes of plundering the seas for lost treasures, Miller hopes the more hard-hitting themes that lie beneath the surface will resonate with La Fortuna's audience. "Culture is beautiful – we must keep celebrating it, because it's what makes the world a freaking interesting place," she said. "But we must not glorify colonialism, glorify the bloodshed and the genocide, in the name of f**king arts and culture."
La Fortuna is directed and co-written by Amenábar – an established player in the world of cinema but taking his first steps into the world of television. If adapting to a new medium was a challenge for the Spanish-Chilean filmmaker though, Miller says "you would never know it".
"He's calm and cool and disciplined. He's so relaxed on set, he knows exactly what he wants and he never gets flustered. It was such a beautiful set to work on and that starts from the top."
Working with a writer/director like Amenábar – or The Haunting of Bly Manor's Mike Flangan – who has greater creative control over a project "absolutely" has an impact on production, according to Miller.
"There’s just a bit more freedom – you know, we haven't got to run any changes up the flagpole, so that kind of collaboration is really lovely," she said. "La Fortuna was almost like theatre in that you got to play, you know? Some TV can be really quick – go in, say your lines, next next... and it feels a bit like a factory, sometimes. Not recently for me, but it can feel like that, because there's pressure for time. With this, we felt like we have the luxury of time."
La Fortuna will premiere with a double bill on Monday 17th January at 9pm on AMC, exclusively to BT TV customers. Visit our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something else to watch with our TV Guide.
