Smoke Stars and Creator Talk Identity, Obsession, and Playing with Fire

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Smoke Stars and Creator Talk Identity, Obsession, and Playing with Fire


In Apple TV+’s new psychological crime drama Smoke, there are no easy answers, no pure hearts, and no safe characters. 

Inspired by the Firebug podcast but largely reimagined by creator Dennis Lehane (Black Bird), the series explores identity, obsession, and the lies we tell ourselves to survive. It’s about fire — but not just the kind that burns buildings.

We spoke with the cast and creator ahead of the premiere about the emotional undertow running beneath the crime story — and what makes Smoke feel dangerously close to real life.

Smoke Stars and Creator Talk Identity, Obsession, and Playing with Fire
(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

A Man at War With Himself

Taron Egerton stars as Dave Gudsen, an arson investigator with more than a few cracks in his foundation. 

In our conversation, Egerton unpacked what it means to play someone who’s simultaneously the hero and the villain in his own narrative.

According to Egerton, Dave is constantly shape-shifting, switching modes depending on who’s watching — or whether anyone is.

“Dave doesn’t have perspective on all aspects of who he is,” Egerton explains. 

“He’s separated himself from who he really is. He code and mode switches all the time, and that’s a way he’s developed to deal with the world that’s really, really unhealthy.”

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

Dave is also writing a novel — one that conveniently stars a version of himself as the heroic protagonist. But what that book reveals might be darker than any fire scene.

“He has no language with which he’s able to accurately articulate who he is,” Egerton says. “He only sees himself in absolute terms: the best, the greatest. Vulnerability doesn’t exist in his world.”

No One Is Just One Thing

Jurnee Smollett’s Detective Michelle Calderone has a rigid moral compass — but it doesn’t always point due north. For Smollett, the appeal of Michelle was in her contradictions.

She told us Michelle Calderone’s contradictions were what made her impossible to resist. 

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

She spoke candidly about attachment issues, personal reflections, and the emotional cost of playing someone who hides her most vulnerable truths — even from herself.

“She avoids intimacy. She avoids being vulnerable,” Smollett says. “She’s got this mask on, and really it’s only her niece and her therapist that can puncture that.”

While the show doesn’t make it easy to pin down anyone’s motivations, Michelle’s battle is especially internal. Smollett even kept a journal in character to explore her psychological layers — something she says mirrored parts of her own life.

“These characters are not all good or all bad. And aren’t we all more than one thing?” she says.

Transforming the Monster

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s performance as Freddyn Fasano is haunting and near-wordless — but no less affecting. He revealed how prosthetics shaped his portrayal, how isolation defined the character, and why Freddy’s pain felt so human beneath the horror.

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

Freddy haunts the edges of Smoke — a near-mute figure with a shuffling walk and a faraway look in his eye. However, Mwine says the role was one of the most complex and emotionally charged of his career.

“Dennis Lehane described Freddy as one of the loneliest men on the planet,” he says. “You keep hoping for the best for him… and keep seeing the worst happen.”

To become Freddy, Mwine worked closely with the hair, makeup, and prosthetics team — who altered his teeth and appearance so drastically that even his speech changed.

“They transformed me in ways I didn’t imagine were possible. That gave me license to play within the world they put on my face.”

Though Freddy speaks rarely, his emotional impact is undeniable.

“He’s often unintelligible, but never unreadable,” Mwine says. “It’s like a magic trick. You just hope and pray that what you’re doing transfers to screen.”

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

The Show Beneath the Fire

Creator Dennis Lehane shared his vision for Smoke, pulling back the curtain on the show’s deeper obsessions: masculinity, denial, and performative identity. 

In his words, the fire is just the beginning.

While the show takes inspiration from the real-life Firebug podcast, Lehane made it clear his story is purely fictional — and rooted in something far deeper than police work or procedural logic.

“I was really interested in performative masculinity,” Lehane says. “We’ve got a guy who thinks he’s the hero, but he’s in denial about the fact that he’s also something much darker.”

For Lehane, Smoke is ultimately about self-delusion — how people lie to themselves just enough to get by.

“I just thought: what if we built a show around people who are attracted to things that can kill them, who are in complete denial of their true natures?” he says. “And then we’ll surround them with fire.”

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

Friends, Lovers, and Liars

Greg Kinnear and Rafe Spall talked about what happens when ego meets delusion — and trust goes up in flames. 

Their characters may be in positions of power, but as they told us, no one in Smoke escapes compromise.

For characters like Harvey (Greg Kinnear) and Steven (Rafe Spall), fire isn’t just metaphorical — it’s how their lives spiral out of control. Both men are high-powered and deeply flawed, hiding things from the people they love.

“We’ve all had a friend we loved and trusted who had a few cards we didn’t expect,” Kinnear says. “And when that trust breaks, it’s humiliating. It makes you question everything.”

Spall’s Steven fancies himself a romantic — but not everyone sees him that way.

“He thinks he’s a love warrior,” Spall says. “He’s blown up his life because he was pursuing love. Even though he may seem like a son of a bitch, he doesn’t think he is one.”

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)

Ready to Burn

When Smoke premieres on June 27, don’t expect a whodunit. Expect a who-are-they — and how far will they go to protect the stories they’ve written about themselves?

As Smollett put it best, “We’re all capable of going to very dark places. You take one step… then another. And suddenly you’re somewhere you never imagined.”

As Smoke begins its slow burn on Apple TV+, we’ll be sharing more from our conversations with the cast and creators — digging into character arcs, pivotal moments, and the emotional fallout that follows. 

Stay tuned as the fire spreads by sharing this piece with your friends and on social media. Let’s fire everyone up before Smoke arrives!

The post Smoke Stars and Creator Talk Identity, Obsession, and Playing with Fire appeared first on TV Fanatic.



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