Richard Gere is back with his second-ever major TV role inThe Agency. The Golden Globe winner first broke out with the three back-to-back hits ofDays of Heaven,American GigoloandAn Officer and a Gentlemanbetween 1978-82, later becoming renowned for both his dramatic and romantic leading performances, including hisaward-nominated turn inPretty Womanand the Edward Norton co-starringPrimal Fear. More recently, Gere has largely been seen in a variety of acclaimed indie movies, including the 2016 political dramaNorman.
Gere stars inThe Agencyas Bosko, the Station Chief of the CIA’s London field office who has a storied past in the agency for having worked on a variety of undercover assignments in the past, including an eight-year assignment. Primarily working with Jeffrey Wright’s Henry, the office’s Director of Operations, and reporting to the CIA Director, Bosko finds himself presented with a major challenge when his agent working undercover in Russia goes missing. He and Henry must work as quickly as they can to try and learn the status of their agent before it erupts into an international disaster.
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Alongside Gere and Wright, the ensembleAgencycast includes two-time Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender,The Acolyte’s Jodie Turner-Smith,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. Full of nailbiting tension, a curious sense of humor and gripping character work from its ensemble cast, the show is a tense ride.
Ahead of the show’s premiere,Screen Rantinterviewed Richard Gere to discussThe Agency, returning to the small screen after five years, how he found “two angles” to tap into his character, the humorous dynamic between his and Wright’s characters, and the overall joy of getting to work with “one of our very best actors” in Wright.
Bosko’s Past Has A Lot Of “The Same Dilemmas” As Martian
“At the same time, he’s learned how to be a boss.”
Screen Rant:The Agencyis such a gripping ridefrom what I’ve seen so far, and Bosko is such an interesting, pretty fun character to watch. I’d love to hear what your biggest key was to finding out who this person is, and how best to portray him on screen.
Richard Gere: You know, I haven’t seen anything yet, so you’re ahead of me. I know the scripts, but I don’t know exactly what we got. What was important for me is to find these two angles on Bosko, where he credibly was in the field himself, and he was in some way in similar, or parallel, or exactly the same dilemmas that we see in Martian, and has gone through the crises that Martian is going through. At the same time, he’s learned how to be a boss. He’s pulled himself together enough that he can be an authority figure and be successful at it, be skillful at managing a big corporation, essentially, this huge CIA office in London, and being able to bounce back and forth between being kind of a street guy and the boss.
I love that, and it really does lead to some moments of levity, as much as gravitas on your part.
Richard Gere: Well, that was fun to find with Henry, especially, with Jeffrey, is that I think we found a level of how to deal with each other that we could be upset with each other, but we could also be collegial and in on the joke.
Gere & Wright Found Their Characters' Dynamic “Pretty Quickly”
“…how could you not admire Jeffrey Wright?”
So I actually did want to ask about working with Jeffrey, since, from what I’ve seen so far, many of your scenes are primarily with him?
Richard Gere: Yeah, no, it’s mainly with him, and a little bit with Martian and then the bosses back in Washington, and Langley. Jeffrey, how could you not admire Jeffrey Wright? I mean, he’s one of our very best actors, and continues to be, so I was delighted. Obviously, I read the scripts, and I said, “This is the guy I’m gonna be working with the most.” So I think Jeffrey and I found pretty quickly how we could engage each other, and find our own space to do our work, but be very connected.
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.
