Fightland follows Maduka ‘Duke’ Kilroy (Howard Charles), a disgraced newly released from prison boxing champion who returns to London to seek revenge against the family he thinks betrayed him, driven by non-stop action and questionable characters in a world centered on money and power.

Fightland stars Tyler Conti and Tahirah Sharif sat down with SciFi Vision to give insight into the characters anchored to Duke’s world. Conti portrays Justin ‘Jay’ Hall, Duke’s ride-or-die best friend and adopted family, offering unwavering support in a dangerous landscape. Meanwhile, Sharif plays Kim Harper, a ring girl guarding a silent past. Quietly calculated, Kim is determined to get close to Duke, though her true motives remain locked tightly in the shadows.

Tahirah Sharif came into the world of Fightland by reading the script and feeling much like a viewer blown away by the action and the gripping story telling. She felt that, “if this translates onto the screen it’s going to blow everyone’s socks off and genuinely that's one of the main reasons I wanted to play the character and do the show.”

“Fightland is like a spectacle, and sometimes it’s really difficult for that to come across on script,” Conti shared. “But actually, first time reading it, I could see everything straight away and it really took me on a roller coaster. I love how the relationships are written as well and it’s a joy as an actor to dissect relationships and find the truth within them so that hit me hard when I first read the script, for sure.”

A show in the boxing world has plenty of physicality and Tahirah worked with some really great fight choreographers. “It’s literally like learning a dance, because you have to literally learn it section by section and practice each section until you feel very confident and feel really safe. Sometimes you genuinely forget the choreography [and you are like] which bit comes next?”

Conti added, “Then you get punched in the face.”

Sharif agreed and added that she really enjoyed the rehearsals and the people that they were able to work with, including the stunt doubles who were brilliant. “When it comes to the day and your shooting…I really, really love being able to portray characters that are really physical and get to do those types of scenes,” said the actress.

Conti also talked about why you should like his character Jay, “Jay I think represents the average joe; he is just such a relatable guy,” the actor told the site. “He has his flaws, his issues, his struggles, but he just wants to better himself, and I think it’s fueled by proving that he’s a better person than what he once was and proving that he’s loyal and can do better.” Conti added that we can all relate to having made mistakes. “What you see is a real drive to better himself. He kind of feels like an underdog in that world in that sense, and I think audiences always kind of root for the underdog.”

Sharif loves playing Kim and thinks she is such a badass and likes to play these types of roles. She hyped, “There are so many great strong kind of characters, especially central female characters in this show.”

Are you ready for Friday night’s boxing drama?

Find Fightland streaming on Starz beginning on July 31st with new episodes available to stream weekly on Fridays only on the STARZ app, all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms.

Watch the interview below.