With The Hot Zone: Anthrax now airing on National Geographic, and also streaming on Hulu, I recently got to speak with Harry Hamlin about playing NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw in the scientific thriller. Based on true events, the limited series takes place a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, when someone mailed letters containing anthrax to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The series follows a team of FBI agents and scientists as they try and figure out who was responsible for the attack.
If you don’t remember the time after 9/11, or you weren’t born yet, the series does a good job capturing how nervous everyone was in the weeks after the attack, wondering what might happen next, and if something much worse than 9/11 was on the horizon. So, when the anthrax letters started killing people, it caused widespread fear throughout the country and every section of our government was on high alert to prevent another terrorist attack. The Hot Zone: Anthrax stars Daniel Dae Kim as an FBI agent with a specialty in microbiology, Tony Goldwyn as Dr. Bruce Ivins (a brilliant microbiologist), Dawn Olivieri, Ian Colletti, Dylan Baker, Morgan Kelly, Denyce Lawton, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio, Vanessa Matsui, and Enrico Colantoni as Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson served as executive producers and showrunners.
During the interview, Harry Hamlin talks about what people would be surprised to learn about the making of the series, how the series captures that nervous energy of the time after 9/11, why he wanted to be part of the show, how much he knew about the story before getting involved, what it was like working with Daniel Dae Kim, and more. In addition, we talked about his time working with Ray Harryhausen on Clash of the Titans, if he had a good feeling about the L.A. Law pilot when they were filming it, and what’s the first thing someone should watch if they’ve never seen his work.
Watch what Harry Hamlin had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Harry Hamlin
- If someone has never seen anything he’s done what is the first thing he wants them watching and why?
- What was it like working with Ray Harryhausen on Clash of the Titans?
- Did he have a good feeling about the L.A. Law pilot when they were filming it?
- What would people be surprised to learn about the making of L.A. Law?
- How The Hot Zone: Anthrax captures the time after 9/11 when everyone was nervous what would happen next.
- What was it about the series that made him want to do it?
- How did he figure out Tom Brokaw’ voice for the role?
- If he has a big scene on a Monday how does he like to prepare for it?
- How much did he know about what really happened with the Anthrax scare?
- What would people be surprised to learn about the making of The Hot Zone: Anthrax?
- What was it like working with Daniel Dae Kim?
