9 behind-the-scenes facts from 'Deep State' season 2 filmed in Cape Town

Cape Town – If you missed the second season of Fox's first original scripted series, Deep State – now's your chance to catch up.

Fox (DStv 125) will run catch up stacks this weekend - on Saturday, 6 July episodes 1-4 will air from 20:50 and on Sunday, 7 July episodes 5-8 with air from 20:50.

The gripping and prescient espionage drama has some exciting new cast members joining returning favourites in a fresh and riveting storyline.

Three US Special Forces are killed in an ambush in Mali. The US is supposedly there to support the Malians in their fight against terrorism. However, all is not as it seems. As the story progresses, we realise that their activity is underpinned by the deep state and forms part of a cover for a new gold rush - the goal to beat China in the race for African natural resources - oil, gas, ore and minerals. It is the first dirty war for clean energy.

Walton Goggins (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Tomb Raider) joins the cast and serves as an executive producer on the returning season. He plays Nathan Miller, a former CIA operative who now works in the private sector as a "Michael Clayton like" fixer for the deep state.

Other cast members include: Victoria Hamilton (The Crown, Doctor Foster) as Meaghan Sullivan, a Republican US Senator who is determined to bring the illicit activities of the deep state to light; new talent Lily Banda (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind) is Aicha Konaté, a Malian aid worker, intent on improving things for her country; and Shelley Conn (Liar, Heartbeat), who plays Nathan Miller's ex-wife.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

Parts of the second season was filmed in South Africa and Channel24 had an opportunity to visit the set in October last year.

HERE ARE 9 BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS

1. Locations

The season was filmed in Cape Town, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The crew and cast spent ten weeks filming in the Mother City, six weeks in Morocco and a week in the UK.

2. Is that the Mother City?

None of the scenes in the season are set in Cape Town instead it doubled for London, Washington and the interiors of Mali. Lead actor Walton Goggins who also served as producer, says the city is an incredible place to film as it has several unbelievable locations that can double for other areas in the world.

3. Local is lekker

South African film crews have quite a reputation for being amongst the best in the world. Director Joss Agnew revealed that 90% of the crew who worked on the set in SA was local.

There are also some familiar local actors in the show. Tony Kgoroge (Imbewu: The Seed), Beata Bena Green (Arendsvlei), Sean Michael Cameron (Black Sails), Deon Lotz (The Seagull), Wilson Dunster (Egoli) and David James (7de Laan) are some of the actors who make an appearance.  

4. The devil is in the detail

Season 2 has a complex story structure and is set before and after the events of season 1 and the present. Producer Hilary Bevan Jones shared that creator and director Matthew Parkhill had a writers workshop which ran for 12 weeks where they plotted the storyline very carefully.

5. A fanboy moment

On casting Walton for the second season, Matthew wishes he could take the credit.

Speaking about it, he said: "I was talking to a casting director in LA, and she mentioned Walton, and when she mentioned him, I thought why I didn't think of it. I was a fan of Shield and loved his performance in it. The moment she said his name, I was of course and then Walton and I spoke on the phone and we took it from there."

6. Coming back from the dead

In season 1 Alistair Petrie's character George White dies. Speaking about coming back from the dead Alistair says he was thrilled.

"It is rare that a character that was killed off comes back, I love working with Matthew, and he has to find a way to get me back for the all seasons," the actor joked.

7. Strong black female characters

Lily Banda and Zainab Jah play strong black female characters in the season. They both had never met Matthew before and auditioned for the roles on tape.

About her character Aicha, Lily says the character appealed to her because she is a regular girl who does something out of the ordinary.

Zainab says the opportunity to play a woman in a position of political power, a character she has never had the opportunity to play before has opened her mind to politics.

8. Another side to a baddie

Anastasia Griffith, who plays Amanda Jones says struggled to love her character in the beginning.

"I didn't put out that I want to play this devil in smart clothing. It was a great challenge to bring heart and pain and make the audience empathise with her on some level."

What she enjoyed about the second season is that she got to play two versions of the character.

9. Taking in the sites

When the cast and crew weren't working, they enjoyed the scenery the Mother City had to offer. Producer Paul Frift shared that they went on a sunset cruise Camps Bay.

Cast members also went to the Hermanus whale festival and many other tourist hot spots.

SEE PICS HERE:

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Boat fools...

A post shared by Walton Goggins (@waltongogginsbonafide) on Oct 23, 2018 at 11:10am PDT

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Hermanus... whale Party 2018 a cadre of new friends and a couple of thousand people waiting for the giants to come a play...and they came...

A post shared by Walton Goggins (@waltongogginsbonafide) on Sep 30, 2018 at 11:07am PDT

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One of my favorite quotes... the more you see the less you know, the less you know the more you yearn, the more you yearn the higher you climb and the higher you climb the less you know... glad to be back on top... of Lions head mountain that is. Happy Sunday everybody.

A post shared by Walton Goggins (@waltongogginsbonafide) on Sep 2, 2018 at 6:02am PDT

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Tourists. @josephdempsie

A post shared by Kiki McAdams (@karimamcadams) on Sep 16, 2018 at 3:20pm PDT

(Photos supplied: Fox)