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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Sunday, Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2013

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James Spader stars in “The Blacklist,” airing at 10:01 p.m. Monday on NBC.

James Spader takes on a new role, but is his character good or bad? Only time will tell on "The Blacklist," airing Monday at 10:01 p.m. on NBC.

THE ITEM

Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) is a rogue government agent turned fugitive criminal who had given himself up to the FBI on "The Blacklist," airing Monday at 10:01 p.m. on NBC. He agreed to help the government with cases, but only if he was allowed to work with rookie FBI profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone). And during her very first day on the job, Red helped Liz catch a terrorist. This brings up many questions. Why does Red want to work with an agent who is so green? And why has he turned himself in now? These are questions the producers promise will be answered. "We love great movie bad guys, Keyser Söze being one of them from 'Usual Suspects,'" says executive producer Jon Bokenkamp, "and the idea that (executive producer John) Fox had presented was what would happen if one of these guys started to talk. What kinds of stories would he tell and what different worlds would he be able to take us into? "It is sort of a strange hybrid in terms of what the show is because each week we are going to go out and dip into a different world of crime," Bokenkamp continues. "We're going to go find criminals that, as we present in the pilot, the FBI may not know exist. I think there's an opportunity to sort of, you know, have fun with the vari-

ous people who were involved in crime in ways that we have not seen before. So, each week we will have a different criminal, but I think the reason you come back to the show, or at least what excites me about it, are the people and the secrets that they have and what's happening at home. I think in most procedural type shows, you don't go home. You stay at the office or in the bullpen where they're solving the crime, and here it's essential that we go home. It is a little bit of a delicate balance of going out and solving a crime each week and also going home and meeting these people. But I think that's what's sort of special about the show." As for how soon viewers find out why Red is back, Bokenkamp is a bit cagey. "It is a series long question, but it's not simple enough that it's something we will answer right up front. I mean, why this man has come back and introduced himself and inserted himself into her life is - there are many reasons, so I think along the way we're going to sort of address and get into the various reasons behind why he's come back. Ultimately it may be a singular thing, but to me, I sort of see it as a whole meal. There are a lot of intricacies that we can dip into." Spader created the look of the character with something specific in mind, and from the first day of shooting he wanted to give Red authenticity. "I knew the very first

thing when I got to New York to shoot the pilot - I had very long hair - that they were going to shoot a surveillance photo of Reddington to have on the wall there when he surrenders himself," says Spader. "I thought it would be just a great moment when he surrenders himself, he takes his hat off, and the juxtaposition of the shot of him with long hair and then like this," Spader points to his shaved head. "And because actors are burdened with everything else that they've done before in any role that they're playing, I thought it would be nice to take off my hat and it's an entirely different person and a very different look to go with that. "But working backward from there, you know, the way his life has been for the last 20 years, he moves very swiftly through his life. He's moving from place to place very quickly. I thought he should have a haircut that he can do himself if he cares to or he can go to some barbershop in a little town in Cambodia, and they can cut his hair in 10 minutes. I just thought it was streamlined, and his clothes are like that, too, in that he looks well dressed, but they are traveling clothes. You know, he wears clothes that he can go from a bank to a cave and he's dressed accordingly. And he's also in a lot of different climates over the last 20 years, so I thought it would be appropriate that he dress and look as if he's able to move through the world easily and comfortably."

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