FIRE'S VERY SEXY

TARON EGERTON, HIS CO-STARS AND WRITER DENNIS LEHANE DISCUSS ARSON DRAMA SMOKE.

- BY ELLA WALKER

IT'S human nature to be drawn to the darker side of life. Our fascination with killers, kidnappers and professional thieves has fuelled the success of the true crime genre.

But new Apple TV+ show Smoke focuses on a crime that has been examined less often: arson.

It's a transgression that Little Miss Sunshine and You've Got Mail actor Greg Kinnear, 61, is fascinated by, calling it “exotic”.

“I've always found it interesting when I’ve heard about arson, or when something burned down and they find the little match that started it,’ he says. “You're like, ‘How did they do that? What was the story behind this?’ And sure enough, they do solve these things with surprising accuracy.

“That whole world is just an enigma, so taking it on as a subject matter, if I do say so myself, is difficult and tricky to do.”

The Academy Award nominee plays fire department chief Harvey Englehart in the drama, written and created by Dennis Lehane (The Wire, Shutter Island, Mystic River).

Inspired by true events and based on the podcast Firebug, about arsonist John Orr, the nine-episode series sees Rocketman actor Taron Egerton, 35, (who also executive produced the show) play Dave Gudsen, a fire investigator tasked with chasing down two slippery arsonists in his town in America’s Pacific Northwest.

His team grows - against his wishes - when Detective Michelle Calderone joins the investigation, and the evidence increasingly points to someone Dave knows being involved in the attacks.

“Like fire itself, [the plot] just explodes into a lot of different directions,’ says Greg.