'City on Fire' Interview: Chase Sui Wonders and Wyatt Oleff

Moviefone speaks with Chase Sui Wonders and Wyatt Oleff about 'City on Fire.' "She's an orphan looking for her chosen family," Wonders said about her role.

Premiering on Apple TV+ beginning May 12th is the new series ‘City on Fire,’ which is based on the book by Garth Risk Hallberg and was created by Josh Schwartz (‘Gossip Girl’) and Stephanie Savage (‘Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle’).

What is the plot of ‘City on Fire?’

Inspired by the international best-selling novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg, 'City on Fire,' follows a NYU student who is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003.

Samantha (Chase Sui Wonders) is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends’ band is playing her favorite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone, promising to return. She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.

Charlie (Wyatt Oleff) is a friend of Samantha's who is struggling to cope with the death of his father on 9/11 two years earlier. After she is shot, he stops at nothing to unravel the mystery of what happened.

Who is in the cast of ‘City on Fire?’

‘City on Fire’ stars Wyatt Oleff (‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) as Charlie, Chase Sui Wonders (‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’) as Samantha Yeung, Jemima Kirke (‘Sylvie's Love’) as Regan Hamilton Sweeney, Nico Tortorella (‘Scream 4’) as William Hamilton Sweeney, Ashley Zukerman (‘Fear Street Part One: 1994’) as Keith, Xavier Clyde ('Hard') as Mercer, Max Milner (‘The Dirt’) as Nicky Chaos, Alexandra Doke (‘The Iceman’) as Sewer Girl, Omid Abtahi (‘Argo’) as Detective Ali Parsa, Kathleen Munroe (‘A Family Man’) as Detective PJ McFadden, John Cameron Mitchell (‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’) as Armory Gould, Michael Tow (‘Sound of Metal’) as Joe Yeung, Alexander Pineiro (‘Still Trying’) as Sol, Amel Khalil (‘Generation Por Qué?’) as Sherry Parsa, and Beth Malone (‘Tick, Tick... Boom!’) as Felicia Gould.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chase Sui Wonders and Wyatt Oleff about their work on ‘City on Fire,’ their characters, the plot, and working with each other on their characters’ relationship.

(L to R) Chase Sui Wonders and Wyatt Oleff star in Apple TV+'s 'City on Fire.'

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Wonders and Oleff, Xavier Clyde and Nico Tortorella, and Jemima Kirke and Ashley Zukerm, as well as executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Moviefone: To begin with, Chase, how would you describe Samantha and her life?

Chase Sui Wonders: I feel like she's kind of this Penny Lane (‘Almost Famous’) character, kind of quasi orphan who is looking for her chosen family. She kind of has this way of collecting all these people along the way from so many different walks of life. That's kind of just a testament. She's sort of has vagabond energy and then encounters Charles on the way. They're sort of these weird kindred spirits, even though they couldn't be more different. But yeah, she's the best. I love playing Sam.

MF: Samantha gets shot in the opening episode and then Charlie finds her. Wyatt, how does that event inform what he's going through in the series?

Wyatt Oleff: That is everything. That moment is very pivotal for his character, and it would be pivotal for anyone, but that informs the rest of what he does throughout the show. Everything is for her, and trying to figure out what happened to her because without her he's lost. He's trying to figure out how he can stand on his own two feet, even when she's not around. Yeah, that's his turning point as a character and it kickstarts his arc throughout the show.

Chase Sui Wonders in 'City on Fire,' premiering May 12, 2023 on Apple TV+.

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MF: Chase, Samantha’s chosen family plays a large role in the series. Can you talk about the cause that they are supporting?

CSW: I mean, I think the underground music scene that she joins has this sort of anarchic quality that is rebelling against the gentrification and movement that was happening in 2003, and is still relevant today, with the echelon of New York kind of coming in and sabotaging the culture. From their point of view it represents the death of this fun anarchic cultural node. So Sam kind of finds herself trapped in between these two worlds because she has this connection to the wealthy part. Also, that's where I feel like her lost quality comes from, she chameleons herself to every environment.

MF: Finally, Wyatt, Charlie is a very lost character. Can you talk about the relationship between Charlie and Samantha, and how that relationship helps him with what he’s going through?

WO: Again, I mean that's so pivotal for him when he meets her and he's so lost. I guess about a little over a year ago, he lost his dad during 9/11. So he's lost. He doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life or where he's going to go. Through Sam, he gets grounded. He finds someone who similarly like him is looking for someone, a companion. Through their relationship he's kind of rejuvenated. He finds a new sense of life.