Jodie Turner-Smith falls in love with a man whose secrets may be too much to bear inThe Agency. Having made her acting debut as a siren in HBO’sTrue Blood, Turner-Smith’s star profile has been on a steady rise since her acclaimed breakout turn in the romantic crime dramaQueen & Slimwith Daniel Kaluuya, having gone on to star in everything from the Michael B. Jordan-ledWithout Remorseto Netflix’sSex Educationand the acclaimed sci-fi dramaAfter Yang. More recently, Turner-Smith was seen inThe Acolyte’s castas Osha and Mae’s mother, Aniseya, and starred in the upcomingTron: Ares.
Turner-Smith stars inThe Agencyas Sami Zahir, an academic living in Addis Ababa who has struck up a relationship with Michael Fassbender’s Martian, not knowing he is actually a CIA agent working undercover in the region. When he’s suddenly pulled out of the country by his job, the two find their relationship similarly ending abruptly, only to seemingly have a second chance when she travels to London for a study program, where he’s been relocated. However, as questions begin to swirl about allegiances, Martian and Sami find they may not be able to trust each other.
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Alongside Turner-Smith and Fassbender, the ensembleAgencycast includesOscar nominee Jeffrey Wright, Golden Globe winner Richard Gere,Alien: Covenant’s Katherine Waterston,September 5’s John Magaro, Emmy nominee Hugh Bonneville,Werewolf by Night’s Harriet Sansom Harris andAmerican Primeval’s Saura Lightfoot-Leon, among others. With its romantic center providing a fresh twist to the spy genre, the show proves to be a uniquely engaging and tense ride.
In anticipation of the show’s premiere,Screen Rantinterviewed Jodie Turner-Smith to discussThe Agency, her multifaceted character, the joy of getting to add nuance to the geopolitical tension of the spy thriller, working with Joe Wright, and the unique emotions flowing through episode 1’s breakup scene between Sami and Martian.
Turner-Smith Approaches Finding Her Characters By Thinking Of “The Human Experience” Beyond The Page
“…it’s about building the nuance of who they are based on culture, religion, race, personal ideology…”
Screen Rant:I loveThe Agencyfrom what I’ve seen so far, it is such a compelling ride, but it’s also a very emotional one. Your character is, obviously, one of the big hearts and souls of this show. What was the biggest key to finding who she is?
Jodie Turner-Smith: You know, I think that with every character, there’s the human experience that’s happening beyond who they are, what they look like, where they come from, that is important for me to tap into. But before I even get there, it’s about building the nuance of who they are based on culture, religion, race, personal ideology, all of that stuff. So, it was really exciting to play a Sudanese woman, an academic, a woman who was dedicating her life towards the betterment of her people, her country. It’s a show that is really touching on very important current geopolitical issues.
All of that was very exciting, and I think it added the nuance that then goes in, where you then create a character who, no matter where somebody comes from, they feel seen by this and the adventure that she’s going through, the trials and tribulations that she’s going through. We all understand loving someone, we all understand loving someone that maybe we’re not supposed to love, or that we’re told that we can’t love, and the conflict that that creates in us, and what we’re willing to sacrifice for love, how we’re willing to risk it all. You know, run into that burning building, do whatever.
Episode 1’s Breakup Scene Is “Telling So Many Things About The Story”
“You see that there’s so much love and affection and compassion inside of this breakup…”
It’s that nuance that makes the show such a great standout in the spy genre. And since you mentioned the love, I do particularly love episode 1’s breakup scene in the sense of, obviously, we’re seeing Michael explain it one way to his handler, but as we see it play out, you’re far more calm and collected as she’s processing it all in the moment. What was it like playing that scene with Michael?
Jodie Turner-Smith: What I love about that scene is that it’s telling so many things about the story. It’s showing you how much he is protective of the relationship by manipulating the reality to the “powers that be”, and it also shows what their relationship is. When he talks about, “Oh, this is how she responded,” which is typical [things of] when you break up with someone, and nobody likes being broken up with, we’ve all been through an experience. You break up with someone, and they go absolutely f—-ng delulu and bats–t, and that’s not what happens in this case.
You see that there’s so much love and affection and compassion inside of this breakup that they have for each other, and that they’re having for themselves as they try to metabolize this in real time. I thought it was such a clever and interesting way to write a scene, and it was really beautiful to play in Joe Wright’s hands, who I feel is one of the most sensitive filmmakers of our time, when we talk about love and desire and heartbreak. He’s so good with that, he’s very good at that, and it was just like such a beautiful thing to shoot. It was painful and delicious and beautiful and heartbreaking and full of love.
AboutThe Agency
THE AGENCY is a fresh take on the critically acclaimed hit French drama Le Bureau des Legendes, the all-new espionage political thriller follows Martian (Fassbender), a covert CIA agent, ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station. When the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites. His career, his real identity and his mission are pitted against his heart; hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage.
Check out our otherThe Agencyinterviews with:
The first two episodes ofThe Agencypremiere Friday, November 29 on Paramount+ with Showtime, followed by Showtime on December 1 at 9 p.m. EST.
The Agency
Cast
The Agency is a 2024 espionage thriller following covert CIA agent Martian, who is recalled to London Station, disrupting his undercover life. As a former romance rekindles, Martian’s career and true identity are jeopardized, leading him into a high-stakes world of international intrigue and deception.
