Xavier Clyde and Nico Tortorella have opened up about bonding on the set of City on Fire, teasing ‘shenanigans’ behind the scenes.
The pair star as Mercer Goodman and William Hamilton-Sweeney in the new Apple TV+ series, which has premiered today.
Chase Sui Wonders, Jemima Kirke and actor Ashley Zukerman also made up the huge cast, while Gossip Girl icons Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz served as executive producers and writers.
The eight-part mystery was inspired by Garth Risk Hallberg’s novel by the same name, and follows the lead up to the shooting of college student Samantha Yeung (Chase) in Central Park, with the growing list of suspects touching all aspects of New York.
Taking part in a roundtable with Metro.co.uk and other press, the pair were asked about their favorite moments of filming, when Xavier revealed that he found himself surrounded by huge names that meant a lot to his loved ones.
‘This was my first major project that I’ve ever done,’ he told us. ‘So for me, I still had that veil of like, “Oh, these are actors that all my friends know”. I [told them], “Oh, Nico got cast”, and everyone was like, “Oh, I love Younger so much”.
‘Having those people that knew them like that, and then going to set, I was like, “Oh, gosh, I’m meeting these people that my friends love”. And then meeting the human being behind all the acting, that truly was the amazing moment for me.
‘Nico, when we first met, reached out and sent this incredibly loving, detailed message about just being there for me, being a resource for me in this industry, just advice in general.
‘Developing that human connection with whatever this perceived thought that actors are, there’s a human being behind all these actors you see on TV. So really getting to connect and grow with that human being was amazing.’
‘Then you spend time with us and you can just tell, we’re just normal people,’ his co-star laughed. ‘Just like everyone else!’
‘There’s so many different worlds on set that a lot of us didn’t even wind working together at all during the season, without giving too much away,’ Nico continued. ‘A lot of my greatest memories from this first season were just the times that I was able to spend with [Xavier].
‘At the beginning of the season, we dropped into some of the most emotional, intense work right off the bat, and it really set the tone for the rest of the season.
‘You put a bunch of young, cool people from all around the world in New York City, there are definitely some shenanigans that we got ourselves involved in. And it was loads of fun, but the work always came first.
‘The level of professionalism on this job, from the top down, was beyond.’
The first three episodes of City on Fire have been released on Apple TV+, with subsequent instalments dropping weekly.
The official synopsis reads: ‘Based on the best-selling novel and from executive producers of The OC and Gossip Girl, City on Fire is a drama-filled mystery propelled by interlocking narratives and character-driven twists.
‘Set in post 9/11 New York City, the story centers around the Central Park shooting of a young college student, but when the search for the shooter quickly touches all corners of New York society, it brings together an unlikely cast of characters all looking for answers to questions of their own.’
City on Fire is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.
