Just over a decade after Taron Egerton appeared as a firefighter in the 2014 British TV show The Smoke, the Emmy-nominated actor donned firefighter gear once more to portray a fire captain-turned-arson investigator for Apple TV+’s crime series, Smoke.

“Interestingly, during my first week in Vancouver to film this series, I sent a picture of myself in firefighter gear to two actors I really admire from [The Smoke], Rhashan Stone and Jamie Bamber, saying, ‘This feels strange,’” Egerton shared with Decider via Zoom, laughing about this full-circle moment in his career. “At the time, we didn’t realize the show would end up being named Smoke. I haven’t caught up with them since we ‘borrowed’ the old title back. It’s quite a curious turn of events.”

Based on the real-life events from Truth Media’s Firebug podcast, Smoke depicts the partnership of police detective Michelle Calderone (played by Jurnee Smollett) and arson investigator Dave Gudsen (played by Egerton) as they aim to stop two serial arsonists. The show features Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Greg Kinnear, Rafe Spall, Anna Chlumsky, and John Leguizamo, and reunites Egerton with creator and writer Dennis Lehane, with whom he previously collaborated on Apple TV+’s Emmy-winning Black Bird.

After seeing Egerton portray Jimmy Keene, the undercover FBI operative who befriended serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) to get him to confess to his crimes in prison, Lehane told Decider he “roped in Taron immediately” for Smoke‘s complex role. After flippantly joking, “I’ve got a mortgage to pay,” the actor explained why he values his creative relationship with the showrunner so highly.

“Dennis is such an esteemed, accomplished writer, as both a novelist and a screenwriter, and now as a showrunner. I think, for me, it’s hugely validating to have somebody place their confidence in you in the way that he has. I really love his work, and I love being a part of it, and I really hope it’s a relationship that continues, because these roles — both Jimmy Keene and now Dave Gudson — they are hugely challenging, creatively rewarding roles,” Egerton told Decider. “I honestly can’t imagine anything more rewarding in television. They are amazing parts to play. So I’m very grateful to him and I feel very honored to be on this ride.”

One of Smoke‘s challenging, creatively rewarding aspects was born from Lehane’s desire to shoot the fire sequences in the series as authentically as possible. In order to add an extra layer of truth to scenes, the production team prioritized safety, safety training, and built an ambitious “burn stage” in Vancouver to ensure they could set up specific fireproof sets that would allow the use of real blazes. According to production notes, Vancouver’s fire department was even on scene “for extra due diligence,” though their services were never needed.

Smoke‘s first season features its fair share of internal and external blazes, including a fiery opening shot that shows Egerton’s character Gudson trapped in a burning house in turnout gear. Though scenes like this were admittedly challenging to shoot, Egerton found the efforts were incredibly refreshing — especially at a time of growing AI debates and heavy reliance on CGI.

“I think effort is the operative word. I really think on screen, you can feel a practical effect. You can feel the weight of it. It’s why, in some respects, 10 years ago when J.J. Abrams made Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there was a lot more practical makeup and character work than

there’d been in recent times with other Star Wars films. There is just something satisfying about things being done practically,” Egerton said. “I also think — and this is where I get a little bit spiritual about it — I think there is tremendous value in the human effort in something. There are endless debates around AI, and my fear, and the thing that I find a little discomforting about it, is it feels like getting too much for free. And anything good I’ve had in my life has come through hard work, and will, and effort. I’m being very flippant and I’m not really acknowledging all of the plus sides of AI, but I do also have fear around the ease of it.”

When Egerton looks back on the final product, he maintains his belief that Lehane’s efforts elevated Smoke far beyond the sole use of special effects would have. “The fact of the matter is, I think there’s something really wonderful about doing things practically and I think you see it in the show,” he said. “It’s beautiful. And I would argue it’s more beautiful than were it made by a computer.”

Even when the flames die down on Smoke, there’s heat to be found in every shared scene between Egerton and Smollett. The actors and their characters have palpable chemistry that stems, in part, from Egerton’s deep admiration of his “extraordinary” co-star.

“There’s a lot I admire in Jurnee, and it’s mainly things that I don’t possess. I think Jurnee has a formidable quality and a stoicism and a weight that I really admire, and I’m slightly jealous of. What’s interesting about our dynamics as actors and characters is Dave, and probably me to a certain extent, is a little less serious in some ways. He’s got more lightness to him and seemingly more of a jovial quality to him. Whereas Michelle Calderon is carrying this huge secret trauma that you only really understand — or even begin to understand — towards the end of the first season,” the Smoke star explained. “Finding that dynamic with Jurnee, finding that odd couple relationship where you have two characters that are competitive and adversarial — I can’t speak for Jurnee, but I always felt that the thing that most interests me about Dave and Michelle is that deep down, somewhere really deep, they’re the same. I called Dave a lizard a lot, and I kind of think Michelle is deep down, as well. I found that to be endlessly fascinating and we had a really time working together.”

Even if you’re already familiar with the true story of arsonist John Leonard Orr, over the course of Smoke‘s nine-episode season, Lehane’s writing combined with stellar performances from the stacked cast will keep you constantly guessing and thoroughly engrossed. Because of his history with The Smoke, Egerton said the Apple TV+ series also left him feeling nostalgic.

“It does make me reflective for the past 13 years of my life now. It’s crazy, you know?” he told Decider. “I just feel very lucky to be working, and I feel very luck to have the opportunities and career that I do. I really hope it continues. Maybe in 10 years time we’ll be talking about another show…” The Smoker? Smoking? Stay tuned!

New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.