Red Eye star Jing Lusi has explained why she "refused" to watch fellow plane thriller Hijack.
The new ITV drama follows Lusi's character DC Hana Li as she escorts accused criminal Dr Matthew Nolan (Fool Me Once's Richard Armitage) back to Beijing to face charges. However, the pair are soon embroiled in a dangerous conspiracy when a murder takes place on the red-eye flight.
Despite comparisons between the six-part series and the 2023 Apple TV+ thriller – which stars Idris Elba as a corporate negotiator who tries to use his skills to save the passengers on board a hijacked flight – Lusi explained she chose not to watch Hijack ahead of filming because she didn't want to risk it influencing her work on Red Eye.
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"I refused," she shared in a Digital Spy exclusive. "Because it came out as we were filming. So I didn't want to be infiltrated by their world."
The actor also revealed that both shows used the exact same plane set, adding: "So it was very much like, let me just not think about this at all. Let me just keep very much in our world of [our] plane."
Elsewhere in our chat, Lusi opened up about Red Eye's "momentous" East Asian representation and how her own experience shaped her lead role in the series.
"When this came along, I was like, oh my God, I want to play Hana so much, but I'm just so happy that this is even being made," she recalled.
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"It was huge and just kind of being in the majority rather than the minority because as an Asian actor throughout my whole career, except Crazy Rich Asians, you are the only Asian.
"You are there amongst a load of other box-ticking diverse people. And you all know why you're there and you all know your place and none of it is ever the lead. So it was huge.
"Truly what I hope is that after maybe like five minutes of seeing Hana, you'll just forget that she's Asian and you'll just normalise the fact that she's just a woman doing her job," Lusi added.
"I hope that sets a precedent going forward."
Red Eye airs on ITV1 from Sunday, April 21 and is available to stream on ITVX.
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After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy, she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
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