ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to The Night Agent star Hong Chau about Netflix’s political thriller series, which is now streaming. The actress discussed the novel the series is based on and playing a politician.
“The series is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on a low-level FBI Agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning a phone that never rings — until the night that it does, propelling him into a fast-moving and dangerous conspiracy that ultimately leads all the way to the Oval Office,” reads the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: What I love so much about The Night Agent is that has some great suspense and has some great action, but everything is so character-based at its core. What really drove you to this project?
Hong Chau: I wanted to work with Shawn Ryan. I was a fan of his previous shows — Terriers, The Shield. I asked Shawn why he was interested in adapting this story in particular because it does veer from the novel quite a bit. Something that he said really struck me. He wanted to really delve into the dynamics and the different ways men and women work with each other and how they butt heads and how they get things done together. I think that that was very interesting for me to take part in.
I’ve never played a character who is a politician or works in this world and carries a lot of authority and is also a problem-solver. So it was interesting to get to work in this genre. I’ve never done a political thriller, done something that’s so filled with action — even though I’m not doing it myself, thankfully! [laughs] It was all up to Gabe [Basso] and Luciane [Buchanan], but I personally enjoy watching these things myself, so it was fun to finally get to be a part of one.
You mentioned the show veering from the original novel. Did you still go back and read the novel or did you just go off the script since it was so different?
I did read the novel initially, just to see the general scope of the story. It’s also interesting when a show does choose to veer from the book, because then you think, “Oh, okay, well this is where they wanted to go with it.” Then it sort of raises a lot of questions like, “Okay, why did they choose to do that as opposed to this?” I think that’s probably something that ends up being more interesting to me: what they choose to leave in and what they choose to take out. Our writers … a lot of them, this was their first time getting to step into that writer-producer position because Shawn Ryan is a big advocate for writers learning to become producers, and he wants them to be on set a lot and interact with the actors in the different departments.
So that was fun, to get to participate in that, because I think when we’re having this whole discussion right now about inclusion in our industry and what that looks like and what that means, I think it’s about people who have had a lot of experience, like Shawn Ryan, who are then able to extend some sort of goodwill and welcome in people who are really looking for their first opportunities to step into bigger roles.
In the show, you’re the president’s chief of staff, Like you mentioned, you’re a real problem-solver and it’s a very high-pressure job. What went into your portrayal of a politician and somebody that’s so deep into the White House?
Just a lot of coffee [laughs]. I think it’s already built in there. The circumstances … it’s obviously a high-stakes, high-pressure situation. There’s a certain demeanor with which you have to carry yourself at the White House. It’s not a really relaxed atmosphere. I don’t think there were any scenes for Diane Farr where she just got to kick back and put her feet up on the desk — there was none of that. I don’t think I’ve ever played a character where that was just the entirety of the project.
I think it was just about reminding myself, whenever we would start filming, what the stakes were and what had just happened, and who knows what. It was a situation where I relied quite a bit on the writers to remind me of who knows what. I think that that’s what’s entertaining for the audience, is to have all of these balls up in the air and just waiting for one of them to drop.
