Netflix’s upcoming CIA series starring Noah Centineo will be known as The Recruit and it will premiere on December 16. Let’s take a first look!
From creator Alexi Hawley, The Recruit follows Owen Hendricks (Centineo), a fledgling lawyer at the CIA who becomes enmeshed in dangerous international power politics when a former asset threatens to expose the agency.
He becomes enmeshed in dangerous international power politics when a former asset threatens to expose the nature of her long-term relationship with the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime.
Cast
Aarti Mann (Never Have I Ever, The Big Bang Theory), Daniel Quincy Annoh (Americanah, Bus Stop), Vondie Curtis Hall (Harriet, For The People). Kristian Bruun (Orphan Black, Ready or Not), Laura Haddock (White Lines, The Capture), Colton Dunn (Superstore, Blockers) and Fivel Stewart (Umma, Atypical) are set as series regulars in Netflix’s The Untitled Noah Centineo Project.
The thriller series, starring and executive produced by Centineo, hails from Entertainment One (eOne), Alexi Hawley, and Hypnotic.
Mann plays Violet, Annoh portrays Terence; Hall plays Walter Nyland; Bruun portrays Janus Ferber, Haddock plays Max; Dunn is Lester and Stewart plays Hannah.
Also guest-starring in the series are Byron Mann (Wu Assassins, The Big Short) as Xander; Angel Parker (Runaways, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story); Linus Roache (Homeland, Vikings) as Senator Smoot and Kaylah Zander (The 100, Rescued By Ruby) as Amelia.
Hawley serves as showrunner and executive produces with Hypnotic’s Doug Liman, Gene Klein and David Bartis (Suits, Covert Affairs), Adam Ciralsky (P3 Media) and Charlie Ebersol. eOne is the studio.
About Owen..
What excited you about the role of Owen Hendricks in “The Recruit”?
I’ve never seen the CIA portrayed from the lens of a young kid fresh out of school, being recruited to work there as a lawyer. I’ve always seen it from the perspective of operations and spies. This was very fresh and new, and I loved that.
What kind of stunt training or prep work did you have to do?
Owen Hendricks is not a spy, so he is not trained to fight. The preparation for this role did not require learning to use a gun, learning how to fight. If anything, my lack of experience turns into an asset for the filming, which is funny, because that’s the catchphrase of the entire show. A lot of [preparation] was learning the different terms that a lawyer would use, especially in the Office of the General Counsel at the CIA.
Did you talk to any lawyers when preparing for the show?
The person that inspired the show is Adam [Ciralsky]. He’s a journalist, but before he was a journalist, he was a lawyer at the CIA. I was able to ask him as many questions as I could possibly think of and also get these crazy stories that mirror the show.
Were any of those stories that he told you direct inspiration for what happens in “The Recruit”?
What happens in the show is not a massive exaggeration by any means. The actual stories that I was told from Adam are in line and in parallel with what happens in the show, which is actually really, really exciting, because when you watch it, you’re going to go, “This is absurd, this is outrageous. There’s no way that this is somewhat mundane, but also extraordinary at the same time.” The absurdity of it is that that is what it’s like, and that’s why it’s so fucking crazy to think about.
Did you do all your own stunts?
I like to think of myself as the anti-Tom Cruise. I don’t do all my own stunts. We had this guy, his name is Kenny [Parent] — he’s incredible. He came with us to Vienna, and he and I worked very closely together. I did a lot of the fight scenes that you’ll see. I definitely did some of the masters and some of the close-ups. It was an equal-opportunity relationship. I would like to do as much as I possibly can, but there are some things where even the producers are like, “We don’t want you to do this, because if you do this and you get hurt, then we can’t [film],” and it’s like, “Okay, I don’t do that then.” But it was actually really, really engaging and really fun with Kenny, because Owen is inexperienced and that doesn’t really know how to be cool when he’s fighting. Kenny knows how to fight really cool and fall and hit the ground hard and get up and look like a badass. So for me and Kenny’s work relationship, it was very much like, “Okay, you shouldn’t look so cool, so when you’re running, duck and throw your hands in the air and freak out a little bit.” It adds a little bit of comedy, and it looks a lot more like me.
In the trailer, we see Owen ordering a White Claw at the bar. What’s your drink of choice?
It depends, right? Like am I trying to be good? Would I just have a Heineken Zero? And then pretend to drink a beer? Or would I get a triple Long Island Iced tea? I don’t know, it depends what night you’re catching me on, I suppose.
Are there any particular TV shows or films that you’ve watched recently that you’re a really big fan of?
“Severance.”
What about “Severance” stood out to you?
The cinematography, the way they decided to shoot it. The storyline is so captivating. Ben Stiller as a director is just a monster. The performances are incredibly compelling and suck you in. It’s confusing, you know. It’s a whirlwind. They just drip irrigate information to the audience so slowly, but every single piece of information that you get helps you start to formulate an extraordinarily captivating image of whatever plot you’re heading towards discovering. It’s one of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I love it so much.
Is there a particular actor that you’ve tried to model your career on?
When I was younger, I’d be like, “Ashton Kutcher.” Then I got older, and I was like, “Matthew McConaughey.” Now as I’m 26, I’m like, I really, really love Brad Pitt’s career. I just always go back to his role in “True Romance” as that stoner on the couch. There’s not one, I just feel like there’s different examples of incredible ways to tell stories, and I guess I’m just trying to, as I get older, choose mine.
“As I got older after the rom-com phase, I went, ‘I kind of want to do action,'” – Noah Centineo
“And we found an interesting way into that, playing a superhero and then into The Recruit. My character is a fish out of water in an action show which I thought was an interesting way to move out of romcom and still maintain it.” As busy as he is now, Centineo can still recall his early days in Hollywood as a young actor struggling to find parts.
“I was paying my dues, meeting casting directors and putting my head down, but I wasn’t booking,” says Centineo, whose recurring role on the Disney series Austin & Ally inspired his move to Los Angeles. “It was easy to get caught up in the scene,” says Centineo, who began experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
“I have this hazy nostalgia about that time, waking up on friends’ couches, falling in love for the first time. You have this pseudo-adult experience but you’re high school age.”
“The money started to come in and I was with people who had a lot more responsibility, who were taking the craft more seriously than my former network of people,” he says. “The old lifestyle just wasn’t for me anymore, so I turned away from it.”
Now, Centineo has no plans to slow down. “I want to run,” he says with a laugh. “I’m ready to be in the race –– at full gallop!”
“I loved doing the action scenes,” she gushes. “I love working with the stunt team generally. It’s one of my favorite parts of shooting anything if it’s action-heavy.” – Laura Haddock
“Ultimately, my first way into the show was through the idea of graymail, which just felt like [something] I hadn’t seen before,” creator Hawley tells. “There are people who send hundreds of letters or emails to the CIA saying, ‘you know, I know stuff,’ when they don’t. They call them the crazies for a reason. But the fact that there are real people with intelligence that we don’t want to get out there just seemed like a really fascinating way in.”
Promotional pictures
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Source: Deadline / Netflix
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