Bristling over the position’s supposed lack of substance -it has an overabundance of fashion shoots - Kate finds herself torn between playing by the typical rules of diplomacy and inserting herself into the CIA’s terrorist investigation. Suddenly, Kate is forcibly thrust into the largely ceremonial role of ambassador to the United Kingdom. ambassador to Afghanistan when her mission is derailed by the bombing of a British aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran. Sometimes, the wilder you go, the closer you get to the truth.While serving as lead actor and an executive producer on the project, Russell delivers yet another stellar performance as Kate Wyler, a brusque career diplomat preparing for her turn as the U.S. “I try to push them about 15 degrees more ridiculous, so that we’re all living out either the fantasy or nightmare version of what a moment like that is,” Cahn says. “They are able to hit that sweet spot of feeling like they’re having a good time with each other, and I hope it feels safe for the audience.”įrom here, The Diplomat richly explores this dysfunctional marriage with an underlying caustic sweetness, having shown us what Kate and Hal can look like at their desperate worst. “I knew that I wanted it to get physical in a way that was completely undignified and ridiculous-and that never felt dangerous, but did feel out of control,” Cahn says. “It really set the glamour and the drama of the world-and the funny too,” Russell says.Ĭahn and Bernstein were aware of how difficult it can be to comically depict one spouse hitting another, but they were willing to take that risk and depict a core reality of this particular couple. Bernstein, who’d worked with Cahn on The West Wing and Russell on The Americans, favored moving, long takes in handheld form. “ wasn’t giving us much direction for a long time, he was just letting us play,” Sewell says. This is in many ways a credit to the patient, focused direction. (There’s a lot going on this particular day.) Russell was surprised by how emotional the scene felt the longer they filmed-and how oddly that dovetailed with the material getting funnier. There goes Russell!”īut it’s all in service of a poignant resolution, even as the fight ends with a simple interruption. “At one point, my dress was up, my underwear was showing,” she recalls, to which Sewell interjects: “Oh, yeah. (“Keri is small, but when she plays dead it’s quite difficult to handle her,” Sewell says.) Through it all, Russell felt at one with the elements. I gave them moves that I used as a nine-year-old to wrestle to the floor a 17-year-old.”) There’s the way in which Hal essentially gives up and lets Kate overtake him-a dynamic shift Cahn pushed for as the actors got into it. There was the wrestling in the grass, some moves of which Cahn demonstrated for her cast. felt very in sync on as they got to filming. Of course, there was the punch, which Cahn, Russell, et al. The actual mechanics of the fight were figured out largely on the fly. “That’s what’s hilarious about it, because he fucking means it. (As the scene consistently shows, security guards loom on the other side of the garden, uncomfortably watching this very private moment.) Kate slowly winds him up, goading him into confessing his deception, which he tries helplessly to explain. Sewell calls it a “scary scene,” meanwhile-one in which he played Hal’s fighting for Kate’s continued belief in him, for their ability to move forward together amid the great dysfunction around them. We both agreed to quit at the same time so we could make it okay for each other. “She’s not saying, ‘You fucked my best friend’ or ‘You stole all this money from me.’ She’s saying, ‘We loved each other so much and we tried so hard to make it work, and we both agreed that we’re not going to do it anymore because it’s been so painful for us. The beauty of Russell’s performance in this scene is that, while it descends into a rather pathetic display of petty violence, the Emmy nominee never loses sight of Kate’s devastation. We’ve established that you live in a world where that can happen.” Except, instead of decapitations, we’re talking here about punches to the face. Sewell puts the moment in starker terms: “It’s like the screwball equivalent of chopping Robert Baratheon’s head off in Game of Thrones.
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