Prime Video has just added one of 2025’s best action shows

JOE spoke to Lisa Mulcahy, who directed the series' first three episodes, about the show's 'high-energy' action scenes.

Created by Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, The Tourist), the series stars Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) as Julie, a retired and hilariously irascible assassin now living a quiet, secluded life on an idyllic Greek island.

She is visited by Edward (Freddie Highmore, The Good Doctor), her estranged son, who is unaware of his mother's former line of work. Edward longs to have a better relationship with his mum and discover the truth about his father, whom he has never known.

Out of the blue, however, Julie gets a call from her former employer (Richard Dormer, Fortitude), offering her an enormous amount of money to carry out a hit.

This does not go according to plan, however. Soon, Julie and Edward have a target on their backs, with the pair having to flee across Europe seeking refuge while also attempting to work out why someone wants them dead.

JOE has seen the first three episodes of The Assassin, which were directed by Irish filmmaker Lisa Mulcahy (the excellent Lies We Tell).

And we were big fans of the show, thanks to its mix of high-octane action, genuine intrigue, humour and family drama, as well as its terrific cast.

In terms of the latter, that also includes Alan Dale (Lost), David Dencik (No Time to Die), Devon Terrell (It's What's Inside), Gerald Kyd (The Split), Gina Gershon (Bound), Jack Davenport (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and Shalom Brune-Franklin (Dune: Prophecy).

JOE sat down with Mulcahy to discuss The Assassin. She explained that she worked on season two of the Williams' previous thriller series, The Tourist, when it was filmed in Ireland.

"I think that probably they liked what I had done with those two episodes, so they approached me about directing the first block of [The Assassin]," the director said.

"Obviously, we had lots of conversations and I pitched my ideas to them and I ended up then coming on board."

The Assassin feels very cinematic thanks to its impressive action scenes and its great use of locations. Despite its story taking place around the world, the whole series was actually shot in Athens.

On this, Mulcahy explains: "When you're directing block one, generally, you do have a lot of creative input. That's why you aspire to do block one episodes.

"So myself and Laurent Barès, who was the DOP [director of photography] and Scott Bird, who was the production designer, spent a lot of time with each other in prep.

"The showrunners Jack and Harry, they would have pulled together a kind of visual deck of how they envisioned the series in a kind of a loose way. When I was pitching for the series, I would have done quite a detailed visual pitch for how I would like it to feel and to look, and you collaborate really with the execs and with your designer and with your DOP and come together.

"We always wanted the show to feel cinematic. It's got quite dark elements to it, but it's also set in some beautiful places, and you want to get the most out of that.

"In something like this, which has a lot of action, it tonally can be dark, but it's also got a lot of humour and a lot of really nice emotional relationships, you have to find the visuals and I suppose aural references that will give people the idea of what you're trying to achieve."

We also had to ask Mulcahy about the minutes-long one-shot apartment staircase action sequence that opens the show, which took two nights to film.

On this director explains:

"It took a lot of planning… I read what was in the script and then I wrote out my version of it, but you can't be a super detailed yet, because what you have to try to do is to find a location that works for what you're trying to [achieve] which is like a four/five minute one shot sequence that's going to have a lot of energy, that's going to be credible.

"One of the things about Jack and Harry's work is that although in their shows a lot of really crazy things happen, it's always rooted in reality. So, we had this opening sequence that was high energy, a lot of fighting, but it had to feel that it was credible. That was really important.

"So, our location manager found this location in Athens, which was absolutely fantastic. I couldn't believe it.

"We shot the whole series in Athens, but our series is set in many places around the world. But we found this great building and once we found that, then very very early on in prep, myself and the DOP and the designer and our stunt coordinator went and we just talked through, with the story and how it was written, how [the sequence] could work.

"Then you can add in extra things that aren't in the script because they're based on the location. [More] specific pieces of action because you know there's a specific area in that location that would be really good for something."

Speaking to JOE, Mulcahy was also full of praise for her star-studded cast.

The director told us: "I've been doing this a long time, and obviously there are actors that you'd have in your mind that you would always like to work with, Richard Dormer being one of them. I had wanted to work with him for a long time. So, it was great to be able to get him into this show.

"But really, once you get to meet the actors, [being starstruck] goes out the window because you know their people, their professionals like I am, doing a job. What you want to try to do together is to get to the root of their characters in the most honest and most truthful way, so you just really get stuck into the work.

"Every actor is different and has a different process, and they have to be able to trust you, and you then likewise have to trust them.

"In this instance, the cast, absolutely all of them, were fantastic to work with. Keeley, obviously, I'd have seen her in lots and lots of stuff, and she's just been doing this forever, since she was a child, as has Freddie. They know their jobs so well, and they know your job.

"So, I think once you have put in the prep work and you really have interrogated the material that you're working with and once they understand that you understand what you're doing, it then can make for a really really pleasant atmosphere. Hard work but fun.

"We had a lot of fun on this. People like Jack Davenport, he was an absolute delight. Gina, Shalom, she's just wonderful, and Devin.

"David Dencik, who everybody will know from the James Bond movie, he's just such a hoot to work with. I was really lucky. It was a blast."

Freddie Highmore and Keeley Hawes in The Assassin

Mulcahy worked as assistant director [AD] on several major Irish films in the '90s, including Far and Away, Into the West and The Miracle, an experience which helped her as she transitioned to director.

On this, she tells JOE: "I worked as a third, a second and a first AD. Having been an AD is hugely helpful when you're directing because it helps you understand schedules and how much you have to achieve in the day, and the most efficient way to do that.

"I don't really mess around. I know what I'm doing. I understand everybody's job in the sense that being an AD, being a first AD, you have to understand what everybody's job is, and you have an understanding of how long things should take.

"So, it is a big advantage because a lot of these shows, although, they're high quality and you're telling a story that's set around the world, it's still very tight. Everything you do is very tight, and you really have to make the most of every day.

"When you've got stunt sequences and near 40-degree heat every day, you've just got to be really prepped and having been a first AD is a great advantage."

Even though they are quite different in tone, both The Assassin and Lies We Tell - the film for which Mulcahy won Best Director at the IFTA awards (the Irish version of the Oscars) - are family dramas wrapped up in thrillers and centre on strong women navigating male-dominated worlds.

When we asked Mulcahy if this was why the scripts for The Assassin resonated with her, she replied:

"Yeah, I suppose I've done a lot of work in which there are strong female characters and that is something that interests me and something in the past that we hadn't seen so much of but obviously we see a lot more of now, which is great."

How to watch The Assassin

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The Assassin is available to stream on Prime Video right now.