'The Agency' stars Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, Michael Fassbender and Richard Gere sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk all about the Showtime espionage thriller. They share where they would like to see their characters' storylines go, having the series explore pressing current events and more.
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00:00I'd love to have Henry be challenged as a DEI hire. I'd love that to come down the pike.
00:06I want to continue being a part of a show that is having a conversation about what's going on
00:11right now. As the agency heads into filming season two, Jeffrey Wright and Jodie Turner-Smith
00:15have some thoughts about where they would like to see their character's storylines go.
00:19You're not trying to help me, doctor. You're worried I may have somehow become sane.
00:32The agency is an American remake of the French series Les Berus de Légion that originally aired
00:37in 2015. However, it is set closer to modern day so it can address current world issues like the
00:43war in Ukraine and crisis in Sudan. Wright and Turner-Smith, along with co-stars Michael Fassbender
00:48and Richard Gere, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk all about the Showtime espionage
00:52thriller.
00:53Everything that's introduced in the first season, everything just tightens now. So it's
01:00like, you know, first season I thought, you know, and I'm glad that, you know, audience
01:03respond to it because it's a bit of a slow burn. That's the way it goes and you're sort
01:06of introduced to these characters and each of their different stories and then things
01:10just start ramping up.
01:12The cast and creators Jez and John Henry Butterworth haven't let on much about season two. However,
01:17the Butterworth brothers previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the series wouldn't
01:21address the real-time unfolding of the second Trump administration and its global impact.
01:26Yet there is one issue stemming from Donald Trump's current presidency that Wright would
01:30like to see an exception made.
01:32I'd love to have Henry be challenged as a DEI hire. I'd love that to come down the pike.
01:40Things like that, that his competency is questioned by ideologues relative to things that are currently
01:49in the political climate and watch. I'd love to address that and smack it in the a*****.
01:55Like Wright, Turner Smith is hoping to be able to sway the show's creators to a more personally
02:00favorable outcome.
02:01Because I've seen the show, the French version, I'm just like, I keep on trying to stalk the
02:06Bad-O-Wars to be like, so can we, can we make some certain changes so that I can get some
02:13more time with this one and some time with these guys? Like how do we make that happen?
02:20You know, and so I just keep on coming because I know where sad things go. I keep coming in
02:23with my suggestions of how I would rather this not go. Also, I'm very upset by the ending
02:29of the original show and I would like for us to end differently. Traumatized.
02:34Whether the Butterworths took Turner Smith or Wright up on their character suggestions,
02:38we'll have to wait for the season two premiere. But Wright remains firm in the opportunity for
02:43the series to explore pressing current events.
02:45So long as we're thinking critically, so long as it's smart, so long as it's well, you know,
02:50well-drawn, you know, well-researched and objective to the extent that it can be.
02:55For more updates on the story, be sure to head over to the Hollywood Reporter dot com.
03:00This is The Hollywood Reporter News.