“Last Seen” explores guilt and redemption

For Patrick Brammall, playing Ian Ridley in “Last Seen” meant entering a darker and deeply personal emotional space. The Australian actor is a father of two girls, and his older daughter was nearly four when filming began, almost the same age as Maggie, the daughter his character loses.

Brammall said he normally avoids drawing directly on personal experiences for his roles, but this time the similarities were impossible to ignore. “Everything coincided and it would have been crazy to ignore it. I used that emotional well to access the character. It gave me a shortcut to reach that emotional landscape much faster. When it ended I thought, ‘Wow, it was a strange mental space to inhabit for four months!’”

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Everything coincided and it would have been crazy to ignore it. I used that emotional well to access the character. It gave me a shortcut to reach that emotional landscape much faster. When it ended I thought, ‘Wow, it was a strange mental space to inhabit for four months!’

In the psychological thriller, Ian is a former police officer whose daughter disappeared 11 years ago. He lost his job, his marriage ended and he struggled with alcoholism. He now answers emergency calls, but he has never stopped believing that Maggie is still alive.

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It’s the guilt, which can become as important and addictive as hope. The guilt that he failed in his duty as a father and as a police officer. I think it’s as much about his own redemption as it is about finding his daughter. Those feelings, which are ultimately toxic and consuming him, may be what keeps him alive.

Hope is not the only force keeping him searching. Ian also carries guilt because he believes he failed both as a father and as an officer. “It’s the guilt, which can become as important and addictive as hope. The guilt that he failed in his duty as a father and as a police officer. I think it’s as much about his own redemption as it is about finding his daughter. Those feelings, which are ultimately toxic and consuming him, may be what keeps him alive,” Brammall said.

That obsession complicates the series’ moral lines. Ian begins as the father viewers want to see recover his daughter, but his decisions become increasingly questionable. “There is a psychological realism that makes everything more complicated. I don’t think there are heroes and villains. At first you see Ian and think, ‘There’s our protagonist, our white knight.’ But the more obsessive he becomes, the less pure his intentions are.” “Last Seen” premieres on Apple TV on September 9.

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There is a psychological realism that makes everything more complicated. I don’t think there are heroes and villains. At first you see Ian and think, ‘There’s our protagonist, our white knight.’ But the more obsessive he becomes, the less pure his intentions are.