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The brilliant spy thriller Berlin Station comes to @More4Tweets October 25th at 9pm http://www.channel4.com/info/press/pres ... press-pack …

Berlin Station Press Pack
05 Oct 2018 Press Pack


From acclaimed author Olen Steinhauer (The Tourist, All The Old Knives) Berlin Station is a contemporary spy drama that follows the activities of CIA operatives on a global stage amid investigations of moles, terrorists, corrupt politicians and more. Transitioning from his job as a CIA analyst in the U.S., cerebral officer Daniel Miller’s (Richard Armitage –Hannibal, The Hobbit) new mission puts him under cover at the agency's Berlin branch, tasked with sorting out messy cases involving damaging leaks, whistle-blowers, terrorism and more. Mentored by jaded veteran officer Hector DeJean (Rhys Ifans - Snowden, Elementary) Daniel learns the disorderly world of field work means dealing with deception, danger and moral compromises. As he dives deeper into the German capital's hall of mirrors and discovers conspiracies that lead back to Washington, D.C., he wonders if anyone can ever be the same after a posting to Berlin.

The “outstanding cast” (Variety) also includes Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Ashley Judd (Twin Peaks, Divergent), Keke Palmer (Grease Live!, Scream Queens), Leland Orser (Ray Donovan) and Michelle Forbes (The Killing). Berlin Station is a “TV show as page-turner” (NY Times) that “deftly balances character and plot” (LA Times).

Berlin Station was executive produced by Steinhauer, Academy Award® winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, House of Cards), Steve Golin, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Keith Redmon and Luke Rivett from Anonymous Content (True Detective, The Knick, Mr. Robot). The series is produced by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.

Berlin Station comes to More4 on October 25th at 9pm

Berlin Station: Interview with Rhys Ifans who plays Hector
05 Oct 2018 Interview

Who do you play in Berlin Station?

I play Hector DeJean. He works for the CIA on an operational basis. I guess you could call him a spy. He’s a principled moral person as best he can be. He’s a morally driven character in what is essentially an immoral profession.

What is his relationship with Daniel?

10 years ago Daniel and Hector worked briefly on an operation in Chechnya. He’s known him for a long time but they’re not necessarily friends. Hector doesn’t really get along with anyone he works with. He’s kind of a lone wolf in that sense.

Is there anybody Hector trusts?

No, I don’t think in this world nobody trust anyone else. When push comes to shove you can trust these people with certain things, but with your life? I wouldn’t bet on it. I think that’s true for all of us. It reminds me a little bit of an Elizabethan court, where everyone you dance with is potentially your assassin.

What interested you in taking on the role?

Precisely that. The theatre that the world of espionage provides is a volatile one, and the stakes are high. Each of our human failings because of this profession are accentuated. Deceit and lying and manipulation become the main social currency.

How would you describe Berlin Station to people?

It’s a spy show set in Berlin, but it’s modern day. Berlin in the past has been associated with espionage but this is the first where it’s set in the present day.

When people say “spy show” they think of fantastical car chases and sexy stuff. In Berlin Station that’s there but it seems much more cerebral.

That’s what’s great about Olen’s writing and concept . What drew me to this is from the beginning of the show there’s a certain romanticism that’s attached to this genre, and that romanticism and epic-ness is appropriate given what I was referring to earlier, in that human failings and frailties are at their zenith in this world. To see it set in the present day, just to see the day-to-day drudgery of being a spy is fascinating to me. The questions we all ask: what do spies do when they have downtime? Do spies sleep with spies? Are you allowed to hang out with Russians? Is there a spy club? All these kinds of crazy questions. Olen goes somewhere to answering those. I find that interesting.

What does Hector do during his downtime? He’s very carnal, he loves drinking and partying…

He’s got a lust for life. He’s also very cultured. He’s well read. He’d be as comfortable in the opening of a street art exhibition as he would in a techno club and a shooting range. He’s an assistant to the Minister of Culture so he has a sensitive side.

One of the things we love about the show is Berlin is almost a character. How does modern Berlin contextualise the show?

There’s a great tradition of plays and films and TV shows of this genre where Berlin is the ubiquitous backdrop so it’s an interesting place to revisit. We certainly do that with this show. Berlin I guess more than any other European city is in constant flux because of its duality in the past and its coming together. I always see Berlin two teenagers who’ve grown up next door to each other, forbidden to have any contact with each other, and suddenly found the hole in the fence. Now they’re fucking in the sandpit.

Is there any one location you filmed in that stands out in your mind?

The interesting locations for me have been not the tourist spots, not the traditional iconography of Berlin. There are scenes in what appear to be old bomb sites or buildings that have been taken down and there’s a train in the distance… it kind of evokes a dystopic metropolis. It also evokes Brooklyn. I get Williamsburg vibes, Manhattan in the 70s… there’s all these kind of textures. When the sun does shine here it shines lazy, low and long. That has its own flavour. And the night in Berlin! It’s lit unlike any other city. It’s not a uniform blanket light, it’s lit in pools of light seemingly. City planning hasn’t gotten a hold like London or Paris. There are still dark, undiscovered corners which give it its own magic.

What’s been one of the biggest challenges playing Hector?

By ‘challenge’ you would assume something unpleasant, but actually the unpleasant things are what I relish. It’s nice to play a character that’s so fucked up and twisted. That’s always a joy. The challenge on a day to day basis is working at the pace television demands. But acting’s a muscle, and you get used to that. It’s actually been very rewarding material.

There’s a lot of parallels between acting and spying – spies have to improv, assume other identities. Do you think you or any of your other cast members could be a spy?

No I don’t think so. The difference between acting and spying is acting requires an audience and applause. Spying requires the opposite.

In the show there are a lot of colourful agent names like ‘Joker’ and ‘Swingset’. If you were an agent, what would your spy name be?

Given that I have agents in LA and they have agents in London, I’d call my agent “40%”.

Berlin Station: Interview with Michelle Forbes who plays Valerie
05 Oct 2018 Interview


Who do you play in Berlin Station?

I play Valerie Edwards who is Global Affairs Branch Chief for the Berlin Station, which is a CIA station here in Berlin. Valerie’s main position is to oversee the case officers. Because of a certain leak that has come out and certain outwards circumstances her position keeps changing. As the chessboard changes and the chess pieces change so do everyone’s loyalties and everyone’s positions. While I would normally only oversee the case officers I am also going back to her old job a bit more working with agents on a close level and working out in the field a bit more. I think for Valerie it’s good for her to be out in the field again as she’s been struggling to perhaps have a more stationary life. There’s an addiction for the lifestyle.

Is Valerie a moral character?

Valerie definitely has a moral compass that is constantly on the verge of being compromised by the very nature of what we do. She’s hyper aware of that and is always trying to maintain the steadiness of that. It’s difficult when you live in a world that lives in the shadows and when you’re forced to live in the shadows. When duplicity is a part of your job how do you maintain your moral compass? Because of Valerie’s tenure and experience she is quite aware that it’s very easy for people to lose their moral way, to switch their loyalties. That’s the beauty of this show and the beauty of the writing. As I said, as the chessboard changes everyone’s loyalties switch and sway and ebb and flow. When you live such a duplicitous life your soul is kind of chipped away. When you take on other identities, who are you at the end of the day? It’s very easy to lose your way.

What sets Berlin Station apart from other spy shows?

We take a deeper look into the psychology and inner lives of people who do this very odd job for a living. We have the courage to include the gallows humour which to me was very important. It is a drama based in this workplace where nobody is allowed to tell the truth, so of course things are shifting and walls are coming in and moving out. To maintain your integrity in the midst of that distortion I think is really key for each of these characters and fascinating to watch.

What’s Valerie’s first impression of new guy Daniel (Richard Armitage)? Does it change at all?

Valerie is doing her job. She’s sniffing him out, but he came highly recommended in a way that was unusual. His trajectory is unusual. That puts a question mark on him immediately. But on some level there is a trust. As she sniffs him out a bit she has to make a gut decision to trust someone or not. They’re always on probation certainly, or psychological probation. But certainly as time goes on he proves himself to be quite able, quite capable, highly intelligent and good at his job. Daniel has also taken over from an agent who was exposed during the leak who I was very close to and had been a very close colleague of mine, so there’s another question mark: could he take over from this agent and do as good a job?

What’s it like playing a character in what is probably a very male dominated industry? Is that something you see as part of Valerie’s character?

I’m very proud of our writers and what we’ve accomplished as far as Valerie being one of the sole women in a position of power and equality in this station and how we’ve dealt with it, which is not really dealing with it. There might be some archaic underpinnings from before from people like Robert Kirsch, but you do your job and you get on with it and the knuckle draggers will catch up. We all know how capable women are. I had an interesting conversation with someone in the CIA at the US Embassy in Berlin and I asked him what the ratio was with women and what sexism was like. He said the ratio is pretty good if not completely equal these days. That made me feel pretty good. I hope he’s telling the truth!

What about the show or the role clicked for you?

I was a little burnout and I had taken eight months off. I wasn’t really interested in anything I was reading. This came across my lap and it was a scene with Hector that made me sit up and say “That’s not a twist I saw coming!” I’m like a psychic reading a script, I can see everything that’s coming down the road, and that got me. I got up, I made a pot of coffee, and I sat down and read it and fell in love with it. I don’t know what it is, you just get that feeling in your gut, that this is the one. I loved Olen’s writing and I had a Skype phone call with him, he’s such a lovely guy. So warm, so kind. We just had a good talk and I felt safe immediately. That meant the world to me.

Do you think you or any of your fellow cast members could be good spies?

Do I think actors would make good spies? Absolutely not! We are such chickens in real life. Do we lie for a living? Yes. But we pay somebody else to write those lies and if we don’t get it right, we get a second, third, fourth take if necessary. When we have to do research or ride-alongs, or go into these dangerous situations, we’re always completely protected. Coming down to it, if you had to really throw us into a situation like that, we’d be calling our agents and managers so fast to get out of that situation… we wouldn’t know what to do! I have friends who are activists who do undercover work and I’m constantly picking their brains about it. What’s extraordinary is there are no do-overs. You get caught, you get caught. You go to prison. For people who truly spy, you get caught, you get killed. So no, we’re much too silly. I am, at least!

In the show there are a lot of colourful agent names like ‘Joker’ and ‘Swingset’. If you were an agent, what would your spy name be?

‘Clumsy Man’. But it must be said with a Russian accent!