Actor Diego Klattenhoff stars in crime drama The Blacklist, now showing on OSN.
Following his debut in US hit series Homeland, Canadian actor Diego Klattenhoff is now a familiar face on our screens once again, playing FBI agent Donald Ressler in new crime series The Blacklist. With a plotline that strangely resembles the Emmy-winning terrorist drama, The Blacklist stars James Spader as a former FBI agent and long-time fugitive who surrenders to the FBI under the condition that he will only cooperate with rookie profiler Elizabeth Keen. Here, Diego, who plays one of his interrogators, gives us the lowdown on season one, which is currently airing on OSN.
How did you get involved in this project?
It was a great script. It was one of those scripts last year that everyone was talking about, but it was taking a long time to cast, it took a while for them to find Megan [Boone]. Then they cast James, everything kind of worked out perfectly. I was in Toronto, at my sister’s place and my brother was there, and I said, ‘You’ve got to read this script, even though I shouldn’t have let him read it. I said ‘You have to sit down and read this and tell me if I’m crazy.’ So, I knew it was a great script, and just like with Homeland, you get there and the director’s great. Check. The script’s amazing. Check.
Do you care about how popular the show is?
I do, because that’s why I got into it, to do things that are entertaining that people get wrapped up in, where they forget about everything they’re doing and get sucked into the TV. A show like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, or this show. Week to week, our creators and writers and directors come in and bridge these gaps and create sparks. It’s like electricity. You create that gap and then eventually it comes together and pops.
Can we expect something more intense from your character in the future?
More intense? We were fighting on the side of a building, ten floors up, at the beginning of the season, so I don’t know how much more intense it can get. We were crashing into the scaffolding and the building was under construction, so you would hit the scaffolding and look down.
Which do you think is harder to do: the physical action or emotional difficulty?
It depends on the scene. I like both of them. As far as the action, it can be pretty intense, and fast and furious and all the other crazy things they cook up. You have to be focused and sometimes, if you’re ten floors up, you have to make sure you don’t mess up. Not that it isn’t safe, but I’ve had my share of tweaks and scrapes and little bruises. Both elements are challenging and fun. That’s part of the business for an actor – challenges that test you. And you completely dig into it and then you come out on the other side, and hopefully it’s as good as you want it to be. Thankfully, you know with the stunts and also being in good hands with the writing and directing that it’s all worked out.
The Blacklist airs every Monday at 10pm on OSN First HD.
