Jamie Dornan “Wasn’t Pleased” With the Ballet Scene in ‘The Tourist’ Season 2 Finale

From “Edgar’s Prayer” to classical ballet! The Tourist star Jamie Dornan opens up about the surprise dance sequence at the end of the second season.

The series follows Dornan as a car crash victim who wakes up in a hospital with amnesia. He embarks on a journey to discover his past after suspecting that dangerous people want to kill him.

By the end of Season 1, he learns that his name is Elliot and he has links to a drug trafficking ring.

The show was created by Fleabag producers Harry and Jack Williams, and premiered on the BBC in January 2022.

While chatting with Decider ahead of the Season 2 release on Netflix, Dornan revealed his reaction to a big moment that occurs in the season finale.

Early in the season, Elliot’s mother reveals that Elliot was a skilled dancer in his youth, and Elliot and his girlfriend Helen (Danielle Macdonald) put his talent to the test.

Talking about the scene, Dornan — who admittedly doesn’t have a dance background — denied inspiring that storyline despite having previously demonstrated his movement skills in the 2021 comedy Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. “I definitely wouldn’t be putting forward any ideas of seeing me dance in any job,” he told us. “That’s something that the writers had put in.”

The Irish actor went on to say that he “wasn’t that pleased” about the scene at first, but it grew on him. “I actually really enjoyed it. But it’s work, right? I had to learn to dance in a different way than I danced before, and I am not a very natural dancer anyway,” Dornan added.

“But it’s fun. And it’s a testament to the quirkiness of the way [Harry and Jack Williams] write. I think, on any other show, it would be not make sense, but in The Tourist‘s case, it worked. It’s pretty impressive. A lot of it is me, and some of it maybe isn’t me. I don’t think my body really moves like that,” said Dornan.

He teased, “When you can’t see my face, it’s probably fair to say that’s not me.”

This isn’t the first time Dornan has commented on the scene. Upon the Season 2 release in the United Kingdom on Jan. 1, 2024, he told The Guardian that the scene gave him “proper PTSD.” Dornan said, “I texted Jack and Harry [Williams, the showrunners] when I saw it: ‘Come on … What’s going on here?'”

Sorry, Jamie! But for what it’s worth, it’s a great scene.

The Tourist Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.