‘Be careful what you wish for...'

Josh Hartnett on his thriller that explores the dangers of artificial intelligence

- CAREN CLARK

THE FEAR INDEX

NEW THU / SKY ATLANTIC / 9PM / EP 1 of 4 / DRAMA

Josh Hartnett is excited to be delving into the intriguing but murky world of artificial intelligence in Sky Atlantic’s action-packed new thriller, The Fear Index.

‘I’m all for scientific discovery. But how much does it help us?’ ponders the friendly Hollywood star, whose CV includes war movie Pearl Harbor and Sky’s epic horror drama Penny Dreadful, as TV Times joins him for a video chat.

Based on Robert Harris’ 2011 novel, the four-part series sees Josh play Geneva-based US tech genius Dr Alex Hoffman, who has developed VIXAL, a system that uses AI to exploit fear in the financial markets.

As VIXAL’s eerie powers start to give cause for concern, Alex’s life is thrown into turmoil when he is viciously attacked in his own home, before he suspects he is being framed for a range of chilling events.

But is someone – or something – out to get him, or is his mind playing tricks on him?

Here, Josh, 43, tells us more…