Tom Hopper Unpacks the Psychological Perils in ‘The Terminal List: Dark Wolf’

[This story contains spoilers from The Terminal List: Dark Wolf.]

Navy SEAL brother and loyal friend Raife Hastings, played by Tom Hopper, quickly surmises there are no brakes applied regarding his team brother, Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch), in the fourth episode of Prime Video’s prequel series Terminal List: Dark Wolf.

In “The Sound of the Guns,” Edwards has already broken his promise to his brother-in-arms that the takedown of Iraqi assassin-for-hire Danawi would be enough to get some type of revenge for killing their Iraqi sergeant and asset in Mosul (during the first episode), and then move on with their dishonorable discharged lives. But now the audience has discovered that the two former SEALS are in even deeper with black ops agent Jed Haverford (Robert Wisdom) and his team, as they plan to stop a multimillion-dollar deal that will help put Iran closer to its goal of developing their own nuclear weapons. Hastings is not feeling it, and he can see that Edwards is even more enthralled to go along for the espionage ride, instead of their original agreement to kill Danawi and move on.

Haverford has assembled his team, which includes Edwards and Hastings, in Germany to intercept the handoff of the real bearings in exchange for giving Iran fake ones. But the plan goes severely awry when Hastings’ and Edwards’ planned ambush of the convoy is interrupted by German intelligence officers in a surprise attack, leaving their members wounded and in need of a retreat. And then there is one big betrayal by a Haverford team members that adds even more peril to the surprised ambush. Who saw this coming? Hastings did, of course.

Hastings seems to have a sixth sense that all is not what it appears in the world of black ops, but he is loyal to his SEAL brother and will ride out this dangerous game until Edwards hopefully comes to his senses and says he has had enough. It’s becoming clear, however, that Edwards has found his element, even if Hastings has not.

The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with British Game of Thrones actor Hopper to talk more in depth about his Raife Hastings, how he operates in a world of war, what loyalty looks like among Navy SEAL brothers and which is harder: SEAL training or defying a queen and her fire-breathing dragon?

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I have to ask: Which was harder, being consumed in flames by a dragon [Hopper’s Dickon Tarly, son of Randyll Tarly, refused to bend the knee to the Dragon Queen on Game of Thrones], or training as a Navy Seal and CIA operative for this Terminal List prequel series?

(Laughs.) The stunt guys did a lot of the work for being burned by a dragon, and a lot of that was CGI. So that was a lot easier. The work you put in to be a Navy SEAL is much more in depth. I would be remiss to not say anything about the amount of work that those guys put in to make us look authentic. It’s a constant state of making sure we were doing the right thing on Terminal List to be a legitimate Navy SEAL. So I would have to give it to the Navy SEALs.

Would it be safe to say that Raife Hastings was already connected to the CIA in some way before he and Edwards got kicked out and involved in the espionage business throughout Europe?

Well, actually, Raife is not linked to them at all really. He is very aware of the agency because they had operations where he’s from in Mozambique, and he has seen his family go through some tough times; they used to operate with the CIA and his dad was in the South African Special Forces. So there’s an awareness, but he is certainly not involved with them.

What are some similar personality traits that you share with Hastings? And how are you two different?

He’s certainly much calmer in those crazy heightened situations than I would be. Raife’s nickname is “Mtulivu,” which means “the calm one” [in Swahili]. He always has this very cool head in any situation. No matter how crazy the firefight is, he’s able to keep a cool head for his men around him and deliver information to keep them safe in a very calm manner, which is what he is known for. I’m not as calm, but Jared Shaw is one of our executive producers and one of the [former] Navy SEALs who teaches all of us how to operate accordingly and authentically, and I take a lot from Jared for Raife. Jared has a constant calmness about how crazy the day is. No matter how crazy the action is, he’s got this cool head. I take a lot of inspiration from the way he is in situations.

But our similarities, like Raife, I’m incredibly loyal. We are extremely loyal to our brothers; anyone who I consider a teammate I will do anything for. I will throw myself in front of a bus for people like my family, my children and my wife. They are my day-to-day team, and my extended family, I’ll do anything for them. And that’s who Raife is. He considers the brothers around him like family. Tthe way he operates with his teammates is who I could relate to.

What drew you to the role of Hastings?

There were a few things. I was a big fan of the books. I had come across Jack Carr [Terminal List author] previously in the years before; so I was a big fan of the books and Jack’s work. I think what’s so special about Terminal List is the group of people behind it; the authenticity that comes with it and the challenge of our show. What we do on Terminal List is so huge and the show is so ambitious, I sometimes wonder how we do what we’ve done in the time frames and resources we have available. It’s incredible! What I always look for in anything I’m doing, in terms of a job, is my next big challenge. And this is a huge challenge for me.

Because they had the books, and because the character is already kind of established with the fanbase from the books, it was a huge responsibility for me to adhere to that and make sure I’m doing him justice. Raife is a popular character; so, for me to go on there and deliver him as a live-action character was extremely important and a challenge I relished. I only hope I’ve done it justice for the fans of the books.

What were some of the toughest scenes to shoot, physically or mentally, that made you realize all over again why you love what you do as an actor?

The physical stuff, I always find that’s a little bit more less tiring; you keep more energy up when you’re doing the physical stuff. The psychologically straining stuff is more demanding, like taking your mental state to a very dark place.

Some of the scenes I have to do, where there’s a torture element to the show, one of the things I like about Raife’s character is that he is not fundamentally like that, but he’s able to take himself there. And that’s what’s so beautiful about some of these SEALs — they are not like those people, but there’s a side to them that, if they need to, if they have to, if the moment requires it and the job requires it, they can go to the darkest places you could imagine as a human. That is what Raife seems to do, it’s that switch between dark wolf and light wolf. If you’re a light wolf, you’re able to walk around civilian life and be a very humble, normal nice person. When you need to turn on that dark wolf, you are able to turn that switch.

And those scenes are challenging because you have to take yourself, as the actor, to that place. Jared was so instrumental in that for me because he would come and talk in my ear quietly when I had to get to that place and talk me through it. And as an actor, that’s the challenge to go there mentally and take yourself where they would have to get to, and to play that out authentically.

Do you think Hastings or Ewards begin to feel a sense of disloyalty to each other in their brotherhood as the series carries on?

Well, there’s a gray area. I don’t think either of them were disloyal to each other. I think they approach the mission from a very different standpoint. Raife says something that is very important for that relationship,: “Some men will go to war to fight the enemy, and others will go to war to fight themselves.” I think the reason Ben is fighting this is because he’s fighting something greater. He wants to go and fight because he’s fighting something deeper and he’s convincing himself he’s fighting for that right cause. Raife just sees it differently: This is not what we signed up in the teams for, thi  is something deeper and something that I’m not interested in fighting — this is not our fight. We’re being used as pawns in a much bigger chess game here.

It’s like a marriage, right? When you’re looking at a problem and you’re trying to keep it together, but you’re both trying to fix it from a completely different avenue. It’s going to fall apart. That’s what this is, it is two warriors fighting for very different reasons.

I know you will be working on the next season of Terminal List, what else is on your plate?

There are a few things. One of the things that I just finished, which will be coming out next year, is a movie called Better, which myself and my wife, Laura [TK], produced with our producing partners, Dash Productions. It’s a thriller where I play identical twins. Talk about challenges! When I read that script, it was like, “This is what I want to do next!” We just wrapped on that and it was a huge challenge, but one that came off brilliantly. We were really pleased with how the movie turned out, and I think audiences will love it.

And we’re right in the middle of shooting Terminal List, the second season.

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The Terminal List: Dark Wolf is now streaming its first four episodes on Prime Video, with new episodes releasing on Wednesdays. Read THR’s interview with star Taylor Kitsch and showrunner David DiGilio.