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'Covert Affairs': Piper Perabo doesn't need a gun
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When Piper Perabo was researching her role as a young CIA officer in "Covert Affairs," she was struck by what she didn't come away with after meeting with real-life employees of the agency."The people that I met when I was there, they tell a great joke, you know what I mean?" says Perabo ("Coyote Ugly," "The Prestige"), who's doing her first TV series. "... It's like people you would want to sit next to at a bar, but when you get up from the bar they didn't really tell you anything about themselves. ...
"And I found that consistently with the people, they were all sort of pretty -- but not like smashingly good-looking. You were just like, Oh, they seem so -- easy to love but also kind of easy to forget."
That's a great trait for a CIA operative, but less so for the lead of a TV series. Perabo -- who came across as utterly charming when Zap2it visited the "Covert Affairs" set in Toronto in June -- should have the "easy to love" part down. The show also has crafted what seems like a pretty good balance of life inside and outside the agency for Perabo's character, Annie Walker.
Like any good spy, Perabo wouldn't share too much with us about the show, which premieres Tuesday (July 13) on USA. But she did offer up a few pieces of intel:
Getting into character
Perabo slips in and out of different personae during her work, and she says the physical preparation for those changes helps her mindset as well. "A lot of it has to do with the prep with hair, makeup, my dialect coach, wardrobe. ... We just did a scene in Portuguese, and it requires a team of people to keep it all straight ... So as I'm trying to keep everybody separate, the language differences actually help. Because I remember, Well, if I'm speaking Portuguese then I'm definitely this person."
Mystery man
Annie is supposedly recruited to the CIA for her language skills, but the agency also wants to find a guy with whom she was involved a few years earlier. "I'm only one episode ahead of what we're shooting, so I don't know [how that mystery plays out]. He's come back. We see him in the first season kind of a lot, and it's getting more mysterious [rather] than less. But I don't know if we're going to solve it this season or not.
Don't shoot
USA's promo images for "Covert Affairs" show Perabo holding a gun -- but Annie doesn't use one, at least not in the first few episodes. "I think it makes for a smarter character," she says. "If you just blow everybody away it makes for a shorter show [laughs]. CIA isn't supposed to carry weapons when they're on U.S. soil, so it's true to life in some ways. The fight style we've been working with mostly is Krav Maga, because it's such a tight hand-to-hand street combat."
Family tension
For now, Annie is keeping her job secret from her older sister (Anne Dudek, "House"), but that might not last. "It's going to get way more complicated than her just finding out what I do," Perabo says. "In fact, I know more about what she doesn't know, and then will know. ... It's not just going to be like, 'I work for the CIA,' let's put it that way."
For more on "Covert Affairs," read our interview with executive producer Doug Liman and our report from the set. The show premieres at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday on USA.
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Photo credit: USA Network
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CAN'T STAND PERABO
THEY'RE OVER-PLAYING THE COMMERCIAL FOR THE NEW SHOW - THEY ONLY RECENTLY ADDED HER NAME TO THE ADS - APPARENTLY THEY DIDN'T WANT TO NAME NAMES EARLY ON EITHER.
SHOULD BE A GOOD PREMISE FOR A SHOW, BUT THEN THEY CAST PERABO WHO PLAYS FLAKY, DIM AND ONE-DIMENSIONAL - TRYING TO LOOK, SOUND SMART, INTELLECTUAL - HER ACTING IS AN ACT. SHOULD BE A DEFINING FEMALE ROLE - BUT WITH PERABO PLAYS LIKE KIND OF INSULTING FEMALE ROLE.
THINK JENNIFER GARNER/SIDNEY BRISTOW - ALIAS, THINK COTE DE PABLE/ZIVA DAVID - NCIS; SMART SHARP WOMEN IN A PHYSICALLLY, INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING ROLE.
PIPER PERABO; COVERT AFFAIRS?
KEEP IT COVERT AND LEAVE THE AFFAIR OUT OF IT - THE COMMERCIALS HAVE PLAYED THE HIGHLIGHTS; NO SUBSTANCE HERE.
This woman is incredibly charming.
And definitely, Piper Perabo doesn't need a gun...
I wish success to her new show!
With the Bourne Trilogy people behind it, I really think Covert Affairs could easily be the break out hit of the summer. The casting is pretty fun for those who saw their favorite shows canceled (Heroes, Ugly Better) and the natural charm and likeability of Piper Perabo is without question. She’s smart, quirky, kicks butt, and very beautiful. If she kicks butt half as much as she makes men drool she’ll be kicking lots of butt!
gee, crushing much on Perabo?? i'm not much of a fan of hers but i'll give the show a chance anyway. good premise, and i guess we'll see if she works out as the lead or not.
OUTSTANDING!! I give this series a five star if it stays on the current track. I never watch a TV series...too boring, but I was stuck on this one from the first moment..and will watch it next week..
I've been waiting for a Piper Parabo series, and was not disappointed. She is all too pretty and sexy and has got lots of talent. I'll keep watching.