In Apple TV+'s new series Surface, Sophie Ellis (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) struggles to piece together the life she had before an alleged suicide attempt that resulted in a traumatic brain injury wiped her memory clean. Unable to remember the wrought relationships she shared with her friends, her husband James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and an undercover investigator named Thomas Baden (Stephan James), Sophie uncovers the disturbing layers of her past self while trying to establish a new life free of burden.
Surface was created by Veronica West and counts Reese Witherspoon among its executive producers. West previously belonged to the creative team of Hulu's High Fidelity and has written for shows such as Dexter: New Blood, Chicago Fire, and State of Affairs. Surface's cast additionally features Ari Graynor, Markian Tarasiuk, and Millie Brady.
Screen Rant spoke with West about her inspiration behind Surface, the series' key themes, and more.
Screen Rant: I love a good psychological thriller and this one struck me as extremely fascinating and unique. What were your inspirations for this story?
Veronica West: I think it all comes down to the premise. I was looking for a situation that could lead us down some really dark, twisty paths, and this idea that Sophie's brain has essentially been rebooted by this injury, it's really a terrible thing to happen but in some ways it's also this gift. It's a second chance for her to write all her wrongs or evolve into another person and it's a second chance for all those around her to sort of shape the narrative of their relationship into what they wanted it to be. Now, that's something that can come back to feel dishonest to Sophie as the season continues.
It’s easy to see how the series’ title reflects Sophie’s accident involving water, but can you explain the more figurative meaning behind the name Surface?
Veronica West: I think there's two sides to everybody. There's this image that we project to the world that's very curated, you know, who we want people to see us as, even our closest relationships, our spouses, our friends. Then, there's this other side of ourselves, our inner self, the deep, messy emotions, the thoughts we have that maybe we wish we didn't. Those two sides of someone, that dichotomy, I think Sophie at the beginning of the series, she really only has access to the first one and the question of how she's gonna find out who she really was, that's what drives her through the season.
I was impressed by how much the show leaves you guessing until the end. As a writer, how did you go about creating and sustaining that air of suspense?
Veronica West: Television is a team sport and I could never do it without my incredible team of writers behind me. But I think we knew who Sophie really was at the core and it's almost about back tracking from that. How can we give ourselves enough runway so that the story that's presented in the beginning feels maybe familiar? We see a loving marriage, we see a best friend. How can we get from that point to what we know to be the truth, which is a lot darker and a lot more complicated than that.
It really takes all eight episodes to completely peel back the layers of Sophie and James’ backstories and relationship. What was your creative process like figuring out how to pace all of the series’ big reveals?
Veronica West: From the beginning, you write a five-page synopsis of what that season's gonna look like and it continually develops and gets more detailed until we had a season pitch that all of these different moves were planned out. So, we got to go back and say, as a group of writers, which episodes are the best thematically, what ties together, what's the most beautiful reveal, like the gala at the museum in episode 5 when Sophie gets to this truth or this secret, and map it all out — which is really the fun part of it.
Surface Synopsis
Set in high-end San Francisco, “Surface,” stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“The Morning Show”) as Sophie, a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt. As Sophie embarks on a quest to put the pieces of her life back together with the help of her husband and friends, she begins to question whether or not the truth she is told is in fact the truth she has lived.
Through twists and turns and a shocking love triangle, this sexy, elevated thriller asks: What if you woke up one day and didn’t know your own secrets? “Surface” is a story of self-discovery which contemplates if we are pre-programmed to become who we are, or if we choose our own identity.
Check out our other interviews with Surface stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw & Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Stephan James.
Surface premieres on Apple TV+ with three episodes on July 29, followed by episodes released weekly on Fridays.