Dick Wolf’s company has extended its reach — from “Law and Order” to “FBI” to “NCIS” — to include a new drama about the CIA.
Because so much of the organization’s activity is done in secret, “CIA” won’t be a warts-and-all look, but a hint of what it could be.
“The show is not political,” says executive producer Mike Weiss. “We’re definitely inspired by technology, stories, threats and, maybe more, the activities that the bad guys are up to around the world. For better or worse, there are a lot of really creative bad guys out there who keep themselves and the FBI and CIA busy. In terms of being inspired by the specific activities of today’s FBI or CIA, we’re not really looking to delve deeply into that.”
Instead, the new CBS series will focus on its personnel — a rule-breaking case officer (played by Tom Ellis) and his partner, a no-nonsense FBI agent (played by Nick Gehlfuss). They handle domestic threats in New York and get help from the deputy chief (Necar Zadegan) and an analyst (Natalee Linez). Weiss says the series will be character-driven, with “these four fantastic actors at the center of it.”
People are also reading…
For Ellis, who starred in the series “Lucifer,” it’s a chance to dig into another questionable character.
“He’s two steps ahead of everybody else — or at least he thinks he is,” Ellis says. “The biggest contrast is Lucifer prided himself on the fact he never lied, whereas Colin predominantly only deals in lies.”
For Gehlfuss, who starred on Wolf’s drama, “Chicago Med,” it’s a new playground.
“I was looking for action and in our first day on set, I was so excited to jump out of an FBI surveillance van and sprint toward the gunfire that I pulled my quad,” Gehlfuss says.
Ellis told him he had done the same thing.
The run-and-gun series, however, was not in the offing when he left “Chicago Med.” He got called for the “CIA” audition and was more than willing to respond.
“I don’t’ gamble, but if you’re going to gamble, you gamble with Wolf Entertainment,” he says. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to go the distance here.”
Once Gehlfuss was cast, he and Ellis found they were great partners.
“We have a very similar work ethic in terms of how we approach the script,” Ellis says. “We both have theater backgrounds and we both think deep and hard about character and story. Sometimes I feel like that might annoy people that I work with but, actually, I’ve got someone who’s just as keen on it as me.”
Adds Gehlfuss: “Tom is such a great leader. It’s like we’re going to collide on screen and we certainly don’t on the other end of it. He’s very funny.”
“We’re both dads and we deal predominantly in dad jokes,” Ellis says.
Because the real CIA doesn’t work on American soil, producers had to concoct a situation that would allow the two to operate.
“The CIA is essentially a voyeuristic agency, so we want to kind of have that experience for our viewers,” Ellis says. “We want to keep them guessing about what the truth is or might be. That’s the fun of working at a secret agency. Everything is secret.”
“CIA” premieres Feb. 23 on CBS.
