By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, November 8, 2015
TNT debuted its new series "Agent X" on the same weekend as the latest James Bond film "Spectre." Coincidence? Purposeful?
"We can ride the coat-tails," mused Jeff Hephner ("The OC," "Boss"), who plays the suave Bond-ish agent on "Agent X" on behest of the vice president (the ageless Sharon Stone). This is Stone's first major TV role and she's an executive producer to boot.
"It fits my personality and interest," Hephner said in an interview last month. "I'm the factory working Middle Western version of James Bond. I'm hoping there's a groundedness and self-awareness to it. The fact is [Bond is] out there chasing impossible missions and being cool doing it."
"Agent X," obviously, doesn't have the ridiculous Bond budget so it's more reliant on plot, character and acting than Bond on location in Mexico City riding down a crumbling building or flailing about on a helicopter as he does in "Spectre."
"I think the action is a little dirtier, a little rougher, not as stylized," Hephner said, noting he gets beat up pretty badly at times.
The twist on "Agent X": there is a secret clause in the Constitution which requires the United States to supply the vice president an agent at her behest to deal with dangers around the world. The inside joke is the vice president on the surface is not given a lot of responsibilities but in reality has its own CIA-style operative. Hephner's John Case character works for Stone's Natalie Maccabee.
And the Turner synergy is there. Wolf Blitzer shows up on the TV and James Earl Jones plays the Supreme Court Justice. (He has been the voice of CNN for decades.)
Hephner admits he was a bit intimidated at first by Stone, who carries herself like the movie star she's been the past two decades.
"She's quite the presence," he said. "Holy s***! That is Sharon ***kin' Stone! There are definitely moments where people's mouths are hanging over, drooling on themselves- me include. But we can be very comfortable with each other. She does a real good job humanizing situations. She'll ask about your kids."
Although Jones didn't really interact with Hephner's character in the script, Hephner said he went out of his way to spend time with the legendary actor. "He's the kindest, smartest, most talented dude," Hephner said. "I actually saw him in New York in the gym and spoke with him. I'm so glad to be around people like that."
Jones, he said, can spin yarns. "You just sit," he said. "It's so much fun. See his body of work, it's second to none."
TV PREVIEW
"Agent X," 9 p.m. Sunday, TNT
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