Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: The Copenhagen test

The Copenhagen Test: O'Brien on Cobb's Arc, Season 2, Simu Liu & More

The Copenhagen Test's Mark O'Brien discussed Cobb's moment of truth, the Cobb/Hale dynamic, working with Simu Liu, the show's future & more.

Mark O'Brien's Edmund Cobb developed a bit of a chip on his shoulder on the Peacock espionage thriller The Copenhagen Test from trying to access the potential threat of Simu Liu's Alexander Hale as a compromised agent, to where the hacker has access to everything he sees and hears with ready access to his brain. As Alexander's life is in danger of getting upended, things take their own unique turn for Cobb as the up-and-coming agent gets surprises as his own, especially from his uncle "Henry" (Adam Godley), who is revealed to have far bigger and more sinister intentions at play. The season ends with Hale discovering he's far from the only test subject for "Cassandra RU-258." O'Brien spoke to Bleeding Cool about how things came full circle for Cobb and Hale, the twist involving his character, and what he can tease from creator Thomas Brandon about seeds being planted for season two, should Peacock renew.

The Copenhagen Test Star Mark O'Brien on Cobb Climactic Redemption

It took you almost the entire season to finally regularly interact with Simu Liu's character. How did you feel he carried himself as Alexander Hale throughout the season?

I love working with Simu, who is the ultimate professional. What was wonderful was seeing him as a producer, too. He was very hands-on, helpful, and informative to the cast, and he's very easy to work with. We had an interesting complex dynamic, because both of our characters respect each other, but we also sort of hate each other in a way, too. It became very fun to watch them come together, because they're so different. Finally, once all the truths are revealed, and all those mysteries are solved for both about one another, respect can supersede all the suspicion that preceded it, so it made for a complex relationship every time we're around one another. I had a great time, and I really enjoyed it.

How did you process the reveal that Cobb is the nephew of "Henry"/Schiff in the script, and how did it play out as you filmed it?

It's really shocking. This is your uncle, and you find out they're completely nefarious, not just what they're doing now, because he pulls a gun on me. It's in everything he has said before, too. It's another level of "I can't trust anybody," like he's the only person that Cobb can trust. [As Cobb] I have one person in my uncle. He's dealt with espionage before I can talk to him, and I even slightly reveal things that I shouldn't. In fact, I even shared with Marlowe (Adina Porter) that I did talk to him about certain things, so it's just shocking. It's also in line with like, "There's no one to trust at all," which really put him completely on an island as a character the whole season. Even as it builds, it gets even worse and worse, and more isolating.

Was there a particular scene that perhaps was a struggle for you to get through psychologically or physically?

I don't know if there's a scene in particular. It's funny, in the beginning of the season, Cobb was slowly starting not to trust Alexander, so there are a couple of scenes that we have together that you're playing a very fine line as an actor because Cobb thinks something's up, it might be Alexander, but he respects him. He just doesn't know what to do with that information. All these things, the level of acting on this whole show by all the cast, achieved a great deal of subtlety, because there are so many intricate things happening. Those early scenes with Cobb and Alexander are very complex because there is sort of a lot going on there beneath the surface, and then it's completely different at the end of the season once it's all been revealed.

I know things have been silent news-wise about a possible season two, but has Thomas talked to you about where Cobb might be going or if there's some connective tissue that your character might fill with Alexander down the line?

Thomas and I spoke briefly about when we were filming the end of the season. It was important for me to know some future things to some degree, because what is the level of friendship that is building between Simu and me? Like, is this going to continue, or is this like a brief thing? What level of respect is going forward? What does this mean? It's the same with Marlowe, there's a scene with Cobb and Marlowe where I say, "I want in on all of this," and it's like, "How much do I want in? How far are we going to go with certain things" so I know how to play it, and how much it means to him and whatnot. I'm not going tell you exactly what Thomas told me, but he has winked at some things, but also kept his cards pretty close to his chest. Maybe that's a superstition, crossing his fingers kind of thing [laughs], which I am.

My final question is more of a hypothetical, but obviously given the themes of "The Copehagen Test" with like surveillance, privacy, and whatnot: If you as Mark or as Cobb found out that you were in a similar situation to Alexander where all eyes on you, all the time, how would you think you would handle or how do you think Cobb would handle it?

That's a great question. I would handle it completely differently from Cobb. I wouldn't care, like if you were so bored to watch me do the laundry and walk my dog, go for it. That's what I'd say. I'd be like, "I don't have a lot of secrets, so whoever puts the effort into making that happen, they've earned the right to watch my 24 hours a day."

The Copenhagen Test, which also stars Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian d'Arcy James, and Kathleen Chalfant, is available on Peacock.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!