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

The Copenhagen Test Stars Liu & Barrera Discuss Spy Thriller's Themes

The Copenhagen Test stars Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera spoke with us about the Peacock espionage thriller series' themes, stunts, and more.

On the surface, The Copenhagen Test reflects familiar themes of the spy genre: loyalty, trust, and patriotism. The Thomas Brandon-created series takes that to another level with Simu Liu playing Alexander Hale, a first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst who realizes his brain has been hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must maintain a performance 24/7 to flush out who's responsible and prove where his allegiance lies. The only ally he trusts is Michelle (Melissa Barrera), a bartender, who understands him far more than he realizes. The Shang-Chi (2021) star and Scream VI (2023) star spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with Brandon and co-executive producer/showrunner Jennifer Yale, how the series' themes are far more relevant given current times, and comparing stunt work between TV and film.

The Copenhagen Test Stars Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera on "The Truman Show" Vibes and Confronting Fascism

BC: What intrigued you about The Copenhagen Test and navigating that journey with Thomas and Jennifer?

Liu: What intrigued me about The Copenhagen Test, what makes the show really unique, is the kind of Truman Show-esque premise where Alexander is under surveillance at all times, and so he's got to maintain this facade of this life where he doesn't have a moment off. He's constantly playing this charade and acting out this life that he wants, this enemy to believe. It requires a lot of intricate layers of storytelling and writing. Just getting to go on that journey with Thomas, Jen, and this one right here, Melissa was really awesome. I think for something like this to work, you need such great chemistry, especially between your two leads, and I was so fortunate I had someone with me who was down to like to hang out in the afternoons, go through text, rehearse, make notes, try things, and be in it together.

What is the most challenging part about navigating through the spy genre and getting to the psychology of your respective characters?

Barrera: Probably the most challenging part for me was to try not to resort to the tired tropes of the genre, because I feel it's a genre that people love and rightfully so, gets done a lot. Putting a fresh spin on it is a challenge that Thomas did an amazing job with when he created the show, but also for us in creating our characters. Obviously, a lot of great writing helps, but when you're creating the essence, the energy of the character, and how you're going to play it, you want to use the elements of spies that people love. At the same time, you also give it your own humanity and make it different, compelling, and nuanced. The exciting challenge when you're jumping into this genre is how to make it feel fresh and how to make it feel different, respecting the intrigue, high stakes, and the exciting nature of the genre.

The recurring themes of the spy genre, particularly in the series, are trust, loyalty, and patriotism. Did it feel a bit poignant, given the current state of politics?

Barrera: Totally, 100 percent

Liu: Types of what, sorry?

Barrera: The time that we're living through.

Liu: Oh, yeah!

Barrera: It feels very timely. We're living under a constant looming threat of surveillance, and it's getting closer to home. This idea of a brain being hacked when people are talking about putting chips in brains already doesn't feel like it's that far-fetched. It feels like it could happen within the next few years, so there's a lot of relevance to this kind of show, and it's also speaking of like immigrants and marginalized communities when so many of them are under attack currently. This idea of a lot of these communities being labeled "not American enough," "they don't belong here," and that's literally the whole point of this show is Alexander wanting to so badly to feel like he belongs and he can be trusted and valued as a dignified member of the American people.

Since you've both done TV and film, how do you compare the stunt work of a series of this nature to film? Does it feel like there's a more streamlined process, or is it interchangeable?

Liu: Yeah, I wouldn't say it's interchangeable. When you're dealing with TV schedules, things tend to move a lot quicker. We do about eight hours of footage in the time that a studio would do two hours of footage for a feature film. There's a lot more that must happen, and sometimes there are constraints as well. It comes down to like the team, and you know we worked with a couple of incredible stunt coordinators, Chris and James Mark, who are also friends of mine, because we shot the show where I'm from in Toronto.

They were spectacular working with both of us, and respecting things that we wanted and also, wanting…I think the two of us are physical performers, so we wanted to do as much of it as we could, and it's one of the many things I appreciated about Melissa. We got in there, and whether it is a feature film or TV, it's a lot of fun when you have your dance partner in the action scenes, like someone who's as in it as you are, and when the director yells, "Cut!" We're always looking at each other like, "Oh! Let's go again. I can't wait to go again!"

All eight episodes of The Copenhagen Test, which also stars Sinclair Daniel, Brian d'Arcy James, Mark O'Brien, and Kathleen Chalfant, premiere on December 27th on Peacock.

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