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Cape Town – From Emmy award winner Dick Wolf comes a new crime procedural, FBI.
The fast paced drama centres on the inner workings of the New York office of the bureau. Agents Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym) and Omar Adom "OA" Zidan (Zeeko Zaki) investigate cases from organised crime, terrorism and counter intelligence – to keep the city and the country safe.
Other cast members include: Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order) Connie Nielsen (The Good Wife), Sela Ward (CSI: NY) and Ebonée Noel (Still Star-Crossed).
Below a Q&A with the leads Missy Peregrym and Zeeko Zaki.
What sets FBI apart from other crime procedurals on television?
Zeeko: The biggest difference are the cases. These are federal cases. We've seen them in movies: Mafia, terrorists stuff like that and we get to bring them to the screen and it's a familiar equation, the procedural. But there's just going to be something a little bigger, a little bit more intense with the FBI, just because the cases they deal with are more intense.
Missy, how would you describe Maggie at the start of the series?
Missy: We're still actually figuring that out as well. What I'm excited about playing already is that she is empathetic, but she can't let that show all the time. She can't let that lead when she is dealing with work. So, it's choosing those moments that she reveals herself or she hides that stuff for the benefit of solving the case. She is really good at what she does. She is trained for this. She has put a lot of time into it. She has worked on the police force and now she is in the FBI. She is used to the institution, which is the opposite of OA.
Zeeko, how would you describe OA at the start of the series?
Zeeko: My character is new to the FBI, but he has a military background and undercover in sort of a terrorist Arab sort of world. His biggest thing is his moral compass – wrong, right doesn't matter. It’s very straight forward to him. And we're trying to find out how much of me is in the character, how much is different and I guess, it feels the way we're moving forward is that, a few different turns along my path and I could have been OA. It's really nice to sort of be able to fall back on your own instincts with a character.
What makes Maggie good at her job?
Missy: I feel like what makes Maggie interesting is that she is very intuitive about people and she really cares about justice, and she really cares about doing the right thing. And because of that, she could probably get in trouble with that as well. Anybody who is empathetic or makes a judgment is also wrong sometimes about that based on their experiences or things that they've gone through, and I hope that will look into that as much, too.
What challenges does OA face now that he’s working for the FBI?
Missy: Your character is reactionary because being undercover is very different than working with the team. When you're undercover, you have to make a decision immediately, and that's something that I think is going to be a conflict in our partnership because you have to talk to a lot of people before you go to make a move when you're working in the FBI. Undercover, that's you. It's all you and you're by yourself and so I think that you might get into trouble.
Zeeko: He wants to move quickly. If this is going to solve the problem, let's do it. And that's not the way the FBI works. A lot of checks and balances – you know, if they come knocking on your door, they've done months and maybe even years of research and then they're like just coming, you know.
Missy: To come get you. Because they already know, yeah.
How would you describe the development of Maggie and OA’s relationship?
Missy: It’s pretty new, actually. We’ve only been working together for three months, technically. And so, we're still figuring ourselves out together and how we go through things, which I think is way more interesting that, you know, I think we're going to step on each other's feet a little bit. I think we have a different way of doing things. He thinks I should just be so open about all of my experiences that I can open people up. I highly disagree with him, because I'm not a therapist. I'm an FBI agent and so, even just that tactic, you know, we have a different idea of how we approach something.
What can audiences expect from season 1 of FBI?
Missy: I think you're going to know what you're going to get in terms of who is making the show. So, you know that it's going to be very thought out. This is a machine that’s been running for a long time and they know how to make really good TV shows. I think it's also fascinating to learn about the FBI, especially in this climate. And also, hopefully, if we do our jobs right, that it's interesting to follow us in this. The whole point of the show is to make the FBI, what you don't really know about the people inside of it, relatable. And I hope that we make a show that is about the goodness that's happening. Even though we're tackling really difficult scary issues, it's to teach about all the things that are involved in keeping everybody safe.
Zeeko: It's going to be a window into a world that people have a lot of opinions of, but really nothing to back it up. So, we get to kind of shed a light on what these people do, what they sacrifice, why they sacrifice it. And I think it's going to change a few narratives based on the FBI and, you know, the climate with everything we're talking about from race and diversity to all that.
or stream it on DStv Now.
Catch FBI, Tuesdays at 21:00 on M-Net (DStv 101) or stream it on DStv Now.
