Jeffrey Wright on his espionage thriller ‘The Agency’: ‘I was kind of born inside that culture’
He’s going from being an author to a spy.
Oscar-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright can next be seen in the spy thriller, “The Agency.”
“I liked that it was grounded and going for realism that lent a real humanness to these characters,” Wright, 58, told The Post.
“I’ve been a part of the James Bond franchise,” he added, referring to his role as Felix Leiter in the Daniel Craig bond movies, “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” and “No Time to Die.”
“That’s much more fantastical,” he explained. “This was much more detailed in its focus on the real world that we are all living in now.”
Wright, who has won an Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe, added, “I tend to be a bit of a news junkie; a little bit of a politics junkie. And this world that ‘The Agency’ is set in was right up my alley.”
Premiering Friday, Nov. 29 (on Paramount+ with Showtime) with its linear on-air debut on Sunday, Dec. 1 (9pm ET on Showtime), “The Agency” is based on the French drama “Le Bureau des Legendes.”
The plot follows Martian (Michael Fassbender), a CIA agent who is abruptly ordered to abandon his undercover life after several years, and return to London Station, leaving behind a lover Samia (Jodie Turner Smith) that he struggles to sever ties with.
Wright co-stars as Henry, the director of Operations who is a mentor to Martian. Richard Gere rounds out the main cast as Bosko, the London Station Chief.
Wright is fresh off of his first “best actor” Academy Award nomination for playing an author in 2023’s “American Fiction.”
“It very much made me want to get back to work again after the long slog that led up to that night,” Wright recalled, referring to all the press tours leading up to the Oscars.
“So, I did. I think about four days after the Oscars ceremony, I went to work on Spike Lee’s next film…that’s how [getting an Oscar nomination] changed my life, it made me appreciate actually working, as opposed to talking about my work.”
Wright, who plays Lt. James Gordon in Robert Pattinson’s 2022 “The Batman,” said that he drew inspiration from his mother in order to play Henry in “The Agency.”
“I think his intent is to do the best he can within the parameters that he works within. And that’s interesting to me – particularly as we look at the bureaucracy of the United States government or part of it,” he said.
Wright grew up in Washington, D.C.
“My mom was a lawyer for United States Customs for 30-plus years, working on border enforcement. That was her life’s work. She took great pride in it. She took it seriously. She trained herself to do that work. And so, I observed her and her colleagues because I was kind of born inside that culture.”
“I have much more respect for those people than I do for the politicians who often criticize them – because they’re actually trying to do their best on behalf of the US government, and on behalf of the American people,” the “Westworld” star continued. “And, they take it seriously.”
The “Boardwalk Empire” star described Henry as, “a guy who’s up against a lot of pressure, who works in a place of incredibly high stakes, but at the end of the day, is trying to do the best he can, despite the moral complications and the ethical complications of what he does.”
