Agyness Deyn means business with her bloodied knuckleduster and lethal baton in Neil Cross's pre-apocalyptic drama Hard Sun.
The 34-year-old actress makes her TV acting debut as DI Elaine Renko in the six-part series set in a pre-apocalyptic, contemporary London from Luther creator Cross – and her character is just as accomplished as her male counterparts when it comes to physical strength and handling armed criminals.
"She has experienced a lot of things, but she has used it to her strength," Deyn told Digital Spy. "She's taken something dark and made herself self-efficient. She's been propelled into this world. She is damaged but capable."
Jim Sturgess stars opposite as corrupt copper Charlie Hicks, but it's the dynamic of their relationship – deeply distrusting yet reluctantly dependent on each other – which drives the series, Deyn added.
Despite their life-altering discovery that the world is going to end in five years.
"They are reluctantly bound because they both discover this information, and they have this affinity throughout the series," Deyn continued. "It's the characters you're drawn to, their internal journey. You're not looking for a sci-fi story, you're looking for great characters."
Renko and Hicks are on the run from Secret Agents after finding out that the world is ending, and the drama sees the two leads questioning their conscience and moral obligations to their family and the nation.
"There's the vulnerability of being afforded this knowledge of life and death," Deyn said.
"And the confusion of whether this is true: is the world really going to end? Are people in denial, and how will people react to it? Will they turn to God? Do you turn to murder?
"What happens to you when you're in the face of this knowledge?"
Deyn also disclosed that the series ends on a cliffhanger, with the potential of a second series that both she and Sturgess are "excited" about.
"[It ends on] Big cliffs," the star added. "You always know when there's potential to continue, and it would be really exciting if there was another series."
Hard Sun begins on BBC1 on Saturday, January 6.
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Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.
