All of this makes the show an effective mirror for our times, observes Sorvino.
The 50-year-old also reflected on the representation of powerful women throughout television history.
Theres a trend on television of seeing women in senior command positions in intelligence agencies… as very cold.
George Kraychyck/AT+T Audience Network
And as a woman in a mans world, shes traded everything and doesnt have any interior life.
… Theyre just kind of cold sharks, she explains.
But Sorvinos Marty is a very hot shark whos full of feeling.
That can be her walk-on song!
Condorpremieres June 6 at 10 p.m.
ET on Audience internet.
Read on for EWs full interview with Sorvino.
Shes struggled with that her whole career there.
And maybe for him it wasnt as important, but for her it waseverything.
I feel like the world thatCondorlives in is very close to the world were all living in every day.
Like, oh my God, I have to do as good a job as Robert Redford.
[Laughs] That wasnt there!
I was free to craft the character in conjunction with Jason Smilovic… we built her together.
It was super interesting, so I basically… gave her this whole backstory.
I always do that for all of my characters.
I built a music playlist for her… with songs she really likes.
What was on the playlist?I have it here on my phone!
Thats such an eclectic mix.
Why do those songs fit her?These all relate to her inner emotional life.
Theyre all connected to who she is inside and certain events of the past.
A lot of them have a lot of longing in them or darkness.
[Laughs]
Every time I see her on the show, Im going to hear that.
And as a woman in a mans world, shes traded everything and doesnt have any interior life.
… Theyre just kind of cold sharks.
Marty is a very hot shark.
Shes given her life to this career and hasnt done all that shes hoped to do.
Did you watch the original Sydney Pollack film?I havent seen it!
I just wanted to create something that was free of attachments.
I know that sounds weird, but thats how I work.
Subconsciously, it can give you these little cues.
I felt we had a different thing to talk about even though the plot is similar.
Thats an enduring story line.
Its interesting because it doesnt at all address the federal governments executive branch; its just the intelligence agencies.
And personal morality is expendable for the greater good.
He starts to see this chip away at his own sense of right and wrong.
And the show balances that weightier stuff with good old-fashioned thriller moments.
Its sort of this one man against the world and all the weight of the world on his shoulders.
This is what elevates it from just being an action thriller thats kind of substance-free.
I like it because as much as its terrifying and nail-biting and thrilling, its also important and deep.
It has substance, it has real loss… its not like a shoot-em-up movie where everyone is faceless.
The human cost in any of these decisionsshouldmake us feel something.
