A word of warning before you press play on the trailer for action thriller The Night Agent: Don’t forget to breathe. The super-tense new series follows a low-level FBI agent who works nights in the basement of the White House manning a phone line for undercover spies that never rings. But one day, it does, setting into motion a chain of events uncovering a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the Oval Office.
“Imagine All the President’s Men with car chases,” creator Shawn Ryan tells Tudum.
Press play on the trailer above to confirm just how action-packed this gripping new drama actually is, and read on to learn more about the series.
The series is based on Matthew Quirk’s bestselling novel of the same name, which Ryan read at the beginning of quarantine in 2020. Well, “read” might not be the right word — “devoured” is the one Ryan uses. “If you like the Jack Ryan books, the Jack Reacher books, if you like the Bourne Identity stuff, if you like political intrigue, then The Night Agent is for you,” he says.
Well, that’s complicated. The Night Agent’s hero is Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), whom Ryan describes as “the least important person working in a very important place.” Because, when we meet Peter, he isn’t actually a night agent himself. Instead, he “answers the phone for the night agents in distress,” Basso tells Tudum. On one fated day, Peter receives a call from terrified civilian Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) — a tech CEO whose aunt and uncle have been assassinated — which sends both Peter and Rose running for their own lives.
But don’t expect any James Bond superspy action. “Peter’s an FBI agent, so he has some training, but he’s not Jason Bourne. He’s not a trained assassin,” says Ryan. “He’s very much an underdog in the middle of all this. He’s someone who, when he’s in a fight, those bruises stick around. He’s not just miraculously recovered immediately afterwards.”
“A night agent is someone who works for Night Action. They are assigned directly by the President of the United States to look into some matter involving national security,” Ryan tells Tudum. Night Action is a division that works on the “off the books” investigations that traditional agencies like the FBI, CIA and NSA can't quite crack.
“Night agents are people that oftentimes have other things going on in their lives as well, but when are called are usually dealing with things of great importance,” Ryan explains.
The Night Agent stars Basso, Buchanan, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Eve Harlow, Enrique Murciano, Phoenix Raei, D.B. Woodside and Oscar nominee Hong Chau. “She’s an actress of extraordinary range. I just am in awe of her talent,” says Ryan of Chau. You can read more about the cast here.
The Night Agent debuts March 23 on Netflix.
Take a look at the first photos from the series below.
