“I did get to do some stunts,” Welch admits. As the series’ protagonist, and the last participant to sign up to Panic after her life savings are stolen, Heather runs the gauntlet more than most – a factor that required Welch to actively perform some of the less perilous stunts in the show. While that’s true of Sula’s character, others aren’t so lucky. “I mostly stood around and prepped for the first episode’s jump, and then watched my stunt double actually do it, so Natalie is pretty lucky. “Natalie’s in the game and she’s savvy about it, but she’s always just hanging around rather than doing anything dangerous,” Sula says. Jessica Sula, Panic actorīy contrast, and largely for health and safety reasons, the show’s cast didn’t have to perform many – if any – of their fictional counterparts’ death-defying stunts. to see a show that addresses things that are happening in the real world.

It’s these challenges that provide the show’s most thrilling moments, and there are occasions where you’ll realize that you’re holding your breath or gripping your seat tightly. With tasks ranging from jumping off a vertigo-inducing cliff into icy waters to stealthily breaking into the home of an angry shotgun-toting farmer, Panic’s contestants are put through the wringer in their quest for monetary success. Participants have to successfully navigate six increasingly treacherous rounds, including a personalized challenge where they're required to face up to their greatest fear in order to progress to the final round. One element of the show that doesn’t deviate from the source material is the set of challenges that Panic’s contestants must face. It was done in a very secretive way, too, so even though I read the book midway through filming, I didn’t know what to expect from the show’s plot.” “Lauren was like ‘Don’t worry about this’ or ‘You can throw this out as I’m gonna go in this direction’. “When you have the creator who made this story and world, you feel pretty safe when she says ‘It’s gonna veer off and do this thing’,” Sula explains. It’s a dual role that enabled Oliver to collaborate more closely with the show’s cast and allow them to offer their own fresh takes on characters that she created. Oliver, then, had the flexibility to revise the novel’s plot and characters without having to surrender her creative freedoms. Shows usually employ authors, such as Leigh Bardugo on Netflix’s Shadow and Bone adaptation, in creative consultant or executive producer roles to ensure such TV adaptations are as authentic as possible.Īmazon Studios, though, chose a different approach for Panic, and set author Lauren Oliver as the show’s creator. Panic operates in an unusual space compared to other recent book to TV adaptations.

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