The star of a new show about the creation of the world's first nuclear bomb has marched in anti-nuclear protests. Chris Schulz talks to Olivia Williams.
Yelling, chanting, and hordes of placard-waving protesters - Olivia Williams can vividly recall taking part in anti-nuclear marches in the 1980s.
"I used to go on nuclear disarmament marches in London. I knew very little but I can remember my father saying on these marches that without Hiroshima the war wouldn't have ended. I'm very conflicted about whether it was the right thing to do."
That conflict is at the heart of Williams' new show Manhattan, an acclaimed period drama from Masters of Sex's Sam Shaw, available in full on Sky TV's Neon streaming service.
Based on the building of the world's first nuclear weapon, Manhattan is set in Los Alamos in 1943 - a then-secret city developed so teams of scientists could move in with their families while working on the Manhattan Project.
At the time, they were trying to win the nuclear arms race against Nazi Germany. Williams says the show's characters might be fictional, but its events are "extremely accurate".
"Tremendous secrecy was required," she says. "You signed a contract that you wouldn't tell anyone where you were and what you were doing. The wives were never told what their husbands were doing, and the husbands were told not to tell their wives."
That secrecy extended to the city itself: "You can drive past Los Alamos and have no idea that a few hundred feet above you is one of the most sophisticated nuclear facilities on Earth."
The show has earned comparisons to Mad Men with its attention to detail and dark storylines, and is recommended for binge-watching thanks to its movie-like qualities. Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing) is executive producer and the cast includes John Benjamin Hickey (Transformers, The Good Wife), Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards) and Ashley Zukerman (Terra Nova, Rush).
John Benjamin Hickey, Olivia Williams, Daniel Stern, Ashley Zukerman, Rachel Brosnahan in the TV show Manhattan.
Williams - who plays Dr Liza Winter, the wife of the Manhattan Project's lead scientist - says that leads to plenty of drama.
"I play a character who is extremely conflicted and determined to make sure [everyone] knows about the effects of the bomb," she says.
"Many children were born and raised in Los Alamos and weren't told what their parents were up to until after the war."
Like her character, Williams knew very little about the topic before her audition.
"My main knowledge was from an extremely anti-nuclear position I held and probably still hold. I knew a bit but nothing like how extraordinarily secret and expensive and random it was. They really weren't at all sure that when they dropped it the bomb was going to go off."
That means Manhattan can feel a little like a history lesson - but Williams believes it's an important one. "The 18-year-olds I know who I took to see the premiere of this had no idea America had built the first nuclear bomb and had dropped it on civilians. They were very shocked and I think they should know."
Manhattan has a bomb hanging over it - quite literally. Los Alamos is known for its extreme weather conditions, and most of Manhattan is shot on a set plagued by extreme weather. Williams admits she's talking to TimeOut during a break from season two, sitting inside while watching "unbelievable rainfall with lightning strikes and thunderclaps".
"There's a very sensible rule that if there's a lightning strike within five miles, you have to stop filming for half an hour. It's compulsory to get under cover," she says. "There are very dodgy tents on set that frankly look like they'd go up in a puff of smoke."
Surely that's the last thing you want to see on the set of a show about nuclear bombs.
What:Manhattan Where and when: Screening on Sky TV's streaming service Neon, from today.
