HBO’s harrowing 2019 miniseries “Chernobyl,” about the 1986 nuclear disaster in Soviet Ukraine, doesn’t make for ideal quarantine viewing material. Actor Diego Luna said he learned that the hard way during a recent Instagram lives to chat with IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, which touched on everything from Luna’s acclaimed run on Netflix’s popular “Narcos” series and the “Star Wars” saga to “Y Tu Mamá También.” But Luna also said his viewing habits took a dark turn right as the pandemic shut down the entire globe.
“I remember in London one day before we were told it was time to go home, I tried to watch ‘Chernobyl’ and it was such a big mistake,” said Luna, whose next project is a United Star Wars/Cassian Andor Series for Disney +.
“Terrifying! I was seeing the reaction of so many governments to COVID-19 represented in that show,” he said. “That beginning of the show where the authorities say no, no, nothing’s happening, everything’s under control. It sounded so much like what we were living in.”
Luna is referring to the opening scenes of the first episode of the five-part primetime Emmy-winning miniseries, as the reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in Pripyat explodes, and authorities in the government and at the plant insist everything’s fine. Meanwhile, acute radiation sickness has already begun to take hold of laborers at the plant.
Luna added that, because of his mental state-you know, the one shared by everybody – he’s also enjoying watching another HBO series in quarantine, “Flight of the Concords,” from the comedy duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.
As for his upcoming “Star Wars” show, Luna said, “I can’t really talk about it. The thing I can tell you, and it’s a nice challenge and it’s a great way to approach a show, but what happens when you already know the ending?” Luna said. “Then it becomes about the story. Everything is in how you tell the story and how many different layers you can find. This can’t be a show now where at the end we surprise you with like, ‘Oh no it wasn’t him! We’ ve already seen the ending.”
