At a Glance
- Idris Elba reveals he “wasn’t sure” the magic of season 1 could be repeated
- Season 2 moves the action from a hijacked plane to an underground Berlin train
- The Apple TV thriller returns with two episodes on January 14, followed by weekly drops until the March 4 finale
- Why it matters: Fans worried lightning couldn’t strike twice will see if Elba’s gamble on a new high-stakes setting pays off
Idris Elba openly questioned whether Hijack could recapture the intensity that made season 1 a hit. The Emmy-nominated actor tells News Of Losangeles that the real-time plane drama felt like a one-off miracle, and he hesitated before signing on for a second round.
The Doubt That Nearly Grounded Season 2
“It’s a complex show to make,” Elba says. “It was really good and people really loved it. And can we do it again? I wasn’t sure.”
The 53-year-old star, fresh off an Outstanding Lead Actor nomination at the 2024 Emmys, explains that the self-contained nature of the first story made continuation tricky. Season 1 followed corporate negotiator Sam Nelson as he worked to outwit hijackers during an eight-hour flight unfolding in real time.
Elba admits he considered walking away: “As much as I loved the character – sometimes you’ve just got to move on.” What changed his mind was curiosity. “I was really sort of compelled to see how we could do it and see if we can do it again, do it well, keep what the audience loved of the first season alive.”
From 30,000 Feet to Berlin’s Underground
Instead of another plane, season 2 traps Sam and a new set of passengers aboard an underground train in Berlin. The setting swap keeps the claustrophobic tension but swaps altitude for subterranean pressure.
Elba describes the acting challenge as nearly identical between seasons: “trying to make an eight-hour flight or a six-hour train journey or whatever it is, keep that alive over six months.” He shot the new episodes over half a year while maintaining the compressed-timeline feel.
“Six months is a long amount of time to be in one moment or the moment of several hours,” he notes. “That was challenging, just trying to stay in that tension mode for so long.”
Holding the Story Thread
Beyond physical stamina, Elba focused on Sam’s emotional through-line. “What he’s going through, where was he, who is he, what is he doing, all those things,” he lists.
The scripts, he says, supplied the roadmap: “The truth is the script had all those answers. And as an actor, I would just plug into that.” Still, the elongated shoot created confusion. “Oftentimes I had to ask myself or ask the director, ‘What’s just happened? Where are we? Who are we?'”
Keeping “a golden thread for the performance that makes sense” became his daily task.
Betting on Audience Skepticism
Elba welcomes second-guessers. “I really want the audience in the second season to, you know, naturally go in with scrutiny and be like, ‘What? Hijack 2? That can’t possibly happen again to this man, but here we are.'”
He believes scrutiny will turn into surprise once viewers experience the new ride. “As an actor, from a performance perspective, there’s a lot there to chew on and get involved with, which I really enjoy doing,” he adds.
Release Schedule
Apple TV+ will drop the first two episodes on January 14. New installments arrive each Wednesday, culminating in the finale on March 4.
Key Takeaways
- Elba’s initial reluctance highlights the risk of extending a closed-loop thriller
- The Berlin train setting trades aviation logistics for subway tunnel suspense
- Production spanned six months while depicting events that unfold in mere hours
- The actor leaned on scripted motivation to maintain continuity across the extended shoot
