The FX dramaTabooseemed to come out of nowhere in a whirl of smoke and top hats when it debuted in January 2017. Created byPeaky BlindersmastermindSteven KnightalongsideTom Hardyand his father,Chips Hardy, the eight-episode period piece starred Hardy himself as the enigmatic James Delaney, a long-thought-dead expat who returns to 1814 London to claim his father’s inheritance. There’s been very little update on the show since its first season finale, until our own Steve Weintraub brought Knight into the Collider studio to discuss his latest,Serenity.
The filmmaker confirmed thatTabooseason 2 is definitely happening. The second go-around, which is “almost completed” in terms of the writing stage, will once again be eight episodes long and will hopefully go into production in late 2019 or early 2020.
Knight also confirmed thatTaboois currently designed to have a three-season arc.
“If we all stick with it and we all want to keep doing it, it would be three [seasons]. That’s my plan. Because I’ve got a geographical sort of route for the thing to take. It’s basically a journey west. I have a destination in mind, which is always nice to have if you’re setting off on this big journey, which is what writing three eight-hours is. It’s good to know where you’re headed.”
Taboois just one part of a long-running creative partnership between Knight and Hardy, who also starred in the filmmaker’s 2013 thrillerLockeand joined the cast ofPeaky Blindersfor the series' fourth season. According to Knight, the team-up gels so well because both writer and actor are both so singularly focused on the material.
“I think it works because we don’t socialize. We do occasionally but not very often. I think the relationship is totally about the work. The great thing about Tom is that’s his passion, the work. The acting. He’s not a fan of celebrity. But he just loves to act. He loves the process and the craft. For me, to have him occasionally available to do roles that you’ve written is wonderful because you know you can trust someone to really deliver what you do.
LockeandTaboocame about because of each other, where I was invited to meet with Tom to talk about writing this thing,Taboo, and I was developingLocke. Tom was parking his car and I spoke to his manager and said, ‘Do you mind if I mention this project?’…so we did a deal where he would doLockeif I didTaboo.
Check back here for more from Steve’s interview with Knight soon.
