3 Body Problem episode 7 spoilers follow.
3 Body Problem star Alex Sharp has responded to the "daunting" moment in episode 7, where his character Will Downing makes the ultimate sacrifice.
The Netflix original series follows the repercussions of a fateful decision made by Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao) in the 1960s, which echoes across space and time to a group of scientists in the present day – and forces them to face humanity's greatest threat.
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During episode 7, Will (one of the show's 'Oxford Five'), goes through with a euthanasia process termed 'The Staircase Project', which sees his brain removed from his body, cryogenically frozen, and launched into space.
Speaking to Digital Spy alongside fellow cast members John Bradley and Eiza Gonzalez, Sharp has opened up about the "daunting" final sacrifice made by Will, and the heartbreaking end to his and Jin Cheng's (Jess Hong) love story.
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"I sort of felt like I was making almost an independent movie about a guy who loves a woman immeasurably, and is dealing with the threat of his own mortality," Sharp explained of Will's final moments with Jin.
"It just felt very different to the rest of the show. So that kind of helped. Because the scope of the show could have been quite distracting for playing the very simple, human, very quiet scenes that Will's scenes are."
Sharp added that the simplicity of Will's final scenes, especially compared to the rest of the show, was "terrifiying".
"I kind of just lent into that. I pretended I wasn’t in a massive sci-fi show. I was like, 'La la la la,'" the actor said. "And a lot of it was my scene partners – playing with these guys was incredible. But it was a really profound experience to play Will. Sometimes the simplest things are the most terrifying, I find, as an actor. Because you're sitting there, and it's just you."
Sharp then added: "I was just really moved, when I first read the scripts, by the sort of quiet, heroic-ness, and also the psychological, almost spiritual journey that he goes on.
"It was quite daunting, but I was just very moved by it, and very excited to get to work on it."
Related: 3 Body Problem star breaks down heartbreaking moment Will mission fails
Jin star Jess Hong also gave her take on the moment and revealed how she and Sharp prepared for their final scenes together.
"I think Alex and I have a similar approach in that we do the psychological work, and we kind of analyse the characters, and then we put ourselves in their shoes, or we do it simultaneously," she said.
"So it was amazing because we got to really have those intense chats with each other. We both referred to the books, and our characters are pretty true in terms of their personalities from the third book."
Continuing, Hong added: "So there was great source material to work off in terms of finding the justification for that. And luckily, for me, Alex Sharp is just incredible. He also put in so much of the work to make that make sense for the audience – as you see on the show. My job was just to have that conflict playing out right until the very last moment."
3 Body Problem is streaming on Netflix.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
