Interview: Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett on ‘Smoke’
In Apple TV+’s latest psychological crime drama Smoke, two emotionally scarred individuals are forced into an uneasy partnership to unravel a string of arson cases. Created by writer Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island, Blackbird), the series follows Detective Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett), a former Marine haunted by past trauma, who has been demoted to the arson division. There, she’s paired with Dave Goodson (Taron Egerton), a sharp but unpredictable figure with his own secrets. Together, they navigate a case that threatens to consume them both while peeling back layers of pain and buried truths.
Set in a small town gripped by suspicion, the show delves into themes of destruction and rebirth, examining the ways people either confront or run from the things that threaten to destroy them. It’s a tense, character-driven mystery carried by two standout performances from Egerton and Smollett.
For Egerton, Smoke marks a reunion with Dennis Lehane following their previous collaboration on Blackbird. The creative bond between the two began as that project was coming to a close.
“When we finished Blackbird, the conversation about this started just as we were wrapping that show,” Egerton recalls. “We had our first conversation in October of ’21 where this idea was brought up. The source material was raised, and we discussed the ways in which it could be explored and expanded on.”
The Golden Globe winner speaks highly about working with Lehane again: “It’s just a really great feeling to have a co-creative who you feel a synergy with. I’ve worked with directors that I love and admire, but I’ve not, with a writer I so admire, who’s at the inception of these ideas and really creating these stories from the ground up. It’s amazing to have a front-row seat for that.”
Smollett shared a similar admiration for Lehane’s process, revealing one of the early conversations that shaped her approach to her character. “Dennis said to me, Jurnee, everyone says they want to be happy, but why are we drawn to the very things that will destroy us?’ That stayed with me,” she says. “Michelle is literally destroying her house in order to rebuild it. She’s in this pattern of destruction and creation.”
Michelle, a hardened investigator who walks through life with a protective mask, is indeed tasked with rebuilding both her career and her emotional defenses. “She’s a former Marine, a loner, a lone wolf. She’s been demoted, reassigned. And she doesn’t want to be there,” Smollett says. “But she’s drawn to the very thing that could destroy her.”
Opposite her is Egerton’s Dave Goodson. A complicated and unpredictable, yet charming fellow detective. Their relationship will grow to become the clear emotional and dramatic heart of Smoke.
“It’s complicated,” Egerton says. “These are two characters who have a lot of secrets and a lot of darkness and a lot of trauma, and they’re sizing each other up. It’s a very charged, tense relationship.” He highlights that what made it work so well in the end was the talent and generosity of his co-star. “Jurnee is such a heavyweight as an actor. The best acting comes from when you’re just dancing around another actor being brilliant.” Smollett echoes that sense of creative chemistry. “It was a dream. It was a joy working with him,” she says. “Sometimes it’s a brother and sister relationship. Sometimes they’re competitive. Sometimes they’re manipulating each other. Sometimes there’s sexual tension. It was just this playground where he and I kept showing up and playing and challenging each other.”
That mutual respect elevates the performances, allowing both actors to explore the emotional depths of their roles without holding back. “So much of the work is me really just being alive to her and what she’s doing,” Egerton explains. “You are only ever as good as the person opposite you. I really believe that.” Despite the heavy subject matter, Smollett and Egerton found joy in the process of working together. “When you’re opposite somebody who is as talented and playful as Jurnee, you’re already onto a winner,” he adds. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Smollett, known for her past committed performances in Birds of Prey and The Order, dove as deeply as she could into Michelle’s inner world. “There’s a scene where Michelle is sitting with a therapist talking about a shooting she was involved in, and she’s very numb toward it,” she says. “That was actual real trauma, right? And the mask kind of falls down. That was a scene I learned so much from, how she walks through life with a mask in order to survive. That’s something she’s practiced since she was a child. You know, not letting people in.”
In Smoke, that duality between strength and vulnerability, destruction and renewal, is embodied in its two leads. It’s a show that asks complicated questions about what it means to rebuild while still burning. And it’s anchored by two actors at the top of their game, pushing each other deeper with every scene.
SMOKE is now streaming on Apple TV+.
