Discussing their new Netflix series 3 Body Problem, Eiza González and Jovan Adepo talked characters, the dynamic of The Oxford 5, learning just the right amount of physics lingo, and what it was like to shoot all those virtual reality scenes during a recent conversation with Audacy.

No spoilers, but just for context —the basic 3 Body Problem synopsis reads — “Across continents and decades, five brilliant friends make earth-shattering discoveries as the laws of science unravel and an existential threat emerges.” In the series, inspired by the internationally celebrated novel The Three-Body Problem, and from creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, “a young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time into the present day. When the laws of nature inexplicably unravel before their eyes, a close-knit group of brilliant scientists join forces with an unorthodox detective to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”

The duo also chatted about the virtual reality aspects of the show, and learning how to sound like you know about physics, without having to actually learn physics. Additionally, Jovan delved into his character, sharing he was drawn to Saul because he was an underdog.

“If I ever have the opportunity to seek out a character, I usually tend to look for underdogs," Jovan expressed, "it’s just because I feel like your always wanna root for the guy who is not always upfront and in front of everybody’s face.”

“Saul, he has so much potential and I think that his friends, his closest friends, see it, they just wish there was a way that he could find it himself. To try to have a successful, or whatever that means to him. So it was an exciting opportunity to play that within the core of The Oxford 5.”

Despite all of its epic sci-fi, drama, and mind-bending, timeline-expanding aspects, the dynamic of The Oxford 5 and their human relationships, is really the core of the show.

Noting that DAD (David, Alex, and D.B.) “don’t confine to the traditional dynamics,” Eiza expressed, “Yeah, in the beginning of the show we meet them and there’s history between them and they all went to school together and you know.” But things “can change and that’s fine. Like things changing, relationships fracturing or reconnecting, or belief systems sort of getting in the way of relationships, friendship or relations. It’s a natural process in life and I think that it really depicts it in a nice realistic way, versus this sort of like this ‘we’re all best friends,’” she said sarcastically, “‘let’s fight for the world,’ like that not a realistic version of it.”

To hear the whole conversation, press play on the interview above.

3 Body Problem is available to stream now on Netflix.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Ian Camfield