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“’Mare’ was a guessing game, a whodunnit,â€� says Brad Ingelsby. “Taskâ€� is more of a character study. In the new limited series, it’s clear who’s doing what. But what propels the actionÌý— and brings an FBI agent and burglar togetherÌý— is character.

“You care about every one of the characters so much that the real tension is, ‘Oh, no, I know they’re going to collide’ and the fear is what’s going to happen when they do,� Ingelsby adds. “It’s a chase in a way.�

Mark Ruffalo plays the agent, a former chaplain who brings baggage into the situation. Tom Pelphrey, plays the thief, a working-class man who’s trying to raise two children with his 21-year-old niece.

For Pelphrey, who starred inÌýthe equally dark series “Ozark,â€� “Taskâ€� has a more open approach than “Mare.â€� Scenes, for example, take place in a quarry where he and others get to forget their troubles and have fun.

“There was a real sense of like a secret garden,� Pelphrey says. “There was a magical feel to being there. And, come on, what’s better than to spend one of your days just jumping into the water off the rocks? Like, ‘We’re getting paid to do this?’�

Emilia Jones, who plays his niece, agrees. “A lot of my scenes were quite emotional and that day at the quarry I didn’t have to cry or be angry or anything. I got to laugh and be happy … so it was a great day for me.�

Because “Taskâ€� is set in PennsylvaniaÌý— the Delco area as it’s knownÌý— the two had to learn the accent (just as Kate Winslet did in “Mare of Easttownâ€�). Jones, who’s British, worked with a dialect coach for five months before shooting started.

Two weeks before, she and the coach went to bars in Delaware County “and just listened to people talk. It’s not just an accent. It’s an energy,� Jones says. She and Pelphrey bonded over it. "We met up for coffee and we were like, ‘The accent?’�

“And I said, ‘Is it keeping you up at night?’� Pelphrey continues.

And Jones, who learned a different American accent for “CODA,� agreed.

Instead of immersing himself with the dialect coach, Pelphrey met a crew member’s cousin who agreed to help him with the way words are pronounced. “He loves football,� Pelphrey says, “so we started talking about football. After a while, we got so engrossed in the conversation, he could really relax. There’s a certain point where you can no longer trust anything except, ‘I need to hear that come out of someone’s mouth.’�

Growing up in New Jersey, Pelphrey had access to the way residents speakÌý— similar, but not the same. “If I say it different (than they do), I feel like I’m lying. There are just some sounds that are going to be with me no matter where I go.â€�

With the accent, Jones realized she was swearing more than usual.

“I’m so British, you know? But Maeve (her character) was a bit edgy, so that was the only thing that changed for me.�

Both got great support from directors who also immersed themselves in the world. One, in fact, crouched in the backseat of a car while Jones was filming a scene in the front. “People would say, ‘You could direct from outside the car,’� Jones remembers. “And he’s like, ‘No, I’ve got to be amongst it.’�

Shooting in the area where the story takes place added to the authenticity, both actors say.

Then, too, there’s Ingelsby’s contribution. “Every character is so layered, and they all have such a rich backstory, it’s like an actor’s dream,� Jones says. “There’s so much that you can dive into and so much you know.�

Adds Pelphrey, “He starts from character, so every single character has a strong ‘why.’� In other projects, those details are hidden, even from the director. “But Brad gives it to you and shares it in the story, in the dynamics that the audience can see. It allows for complexity.�

“Task� airs on HBO.