For the past several many years, Rufus Sewell navigated his profession with an overarching no-no: getting stuck on a unbroken TV show. “The concept of security has all the time filled me with fear,” says the London native. “The concept of being tethered was never my dream.” Yet, while he’d previously starred on Prime Video’s The Man within the High Castle for 4 seasons, Sewell has noticed a change in his mentality with Netflix’s political drama The Diplomat, on which he just accomplished production for season 4.
“I’d fairly be killed off than be stuck in a rut, but when [The Diplomat] continues this fashion, I’d like to do it for just a few years,” he says. “All I do know is that my career-long dread of a long-running series has not continued with this one.”
It’s a superb thing, too, since Sewell’s work on the show seems to generate more attention by the yr. Because the wily, at times maddeningly self-interested Hal Wyler, the actor has worked wonders opposite star Keri Russell, who plays Kate Wyler, in creator Debora Cahn’s tricky portrait of up to date marriage and power. While Russell has received Emmy nominations from the start, Sewell received his first best actor nod for season three this yr — with the show also breaking into writing and other categories for the primary time.
“It seems like it took some time for people to actually catch on to what was so special about it,” says Sewell, previously an Emmy nominee for his guest activate The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. “The cliffhangers and things that you simply might associate with a distinct genre and possibly even different quality of show — inside that, you’ve got something very sophisticated, and I believe people took time to get their heads around that. It’s like persons are starting to see our baby in the best way that I all the time saw it.”
Sewell’s canny performance propels much of the character-driven mystery of The Diplomat. Hal recklessly careens between personal ambition and marital loyalty. The third season opens with newly minted U.S. President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) choosing Hal as her VP, notably over Kate, a seasoned diplomat who’d been wrestling along with her own complicated interest within the role. This leads the couple to separate for a lot of the season.
“I had a growing concern that something needed to vary … and in season three, that happened,” Sewell says of the dynamic between Hal and Kate. “You don’t need to rinse and repeat since the audience gets very bored with it. The change in status between the 2 of us, really mixing things up, is the perfect hope of keeping the kernel of what we love about this. It’s what I really like in regards to the show: It creates latest relationships.”
Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler in The Diplomat.
Clifton Prescod/Netflix
The finale then ends with a series of emotional, stunning scenes — Kate asking Hal to take her back, only to learn that he’d been working behind her back with Grace in matters of delicate, dangerous, aggressive geopolitical strategy. Kate is as shocked because the audience to find Hal’s betrayal — something Sewell needed to take into accout as he played a person sitting on big secrets all season long. The actor requested years ago that Cahn inform him ahead of time of any character reveals being kept hidden, in order to feel more equipped to play a man holding his cards perilously near the chest.
“There is perhaps three different stories happening, one among which only truly gets revealed at the top — but all of them should be played fully even in the event that they seem ultimately to be playing in opposite directions, and that’s an actual challenge,” Sewell says. “The data might affect the playing in an obvious way, or it won’t, but you need to be provided that selection.”
The Diplomat has expanded its scope to explore intimate stories of power and manipulation inside its high-stakes political world. The plot moves in accordance with how characters evolve of their relationships — and Hal’s actions often inform the drama’s larger crises. He may be painted as a villain fairly easily, which Sewell resists on a relentless basis.
“I still think that he’s principally a superb guy — he’s narcissistic and I believe he’s hugely ambitious, but he is also ambitious because, in his heart of hearts, he desires to do good things,” Sewell argues. “You may tell yourself you’re a superb person on daily basis, but you have to do not forget that’s what people do in an effort to do bad things.” The actor later puts Hal’s predicament one other way: “He really believes in being within the room, even in a compromised position. The concept of what you quit for access and what those small compromises do to you is something I’m very involved in. I’m not drawing a final conclusion on it.”
That nuance within the writing allows Sewell to play with every kind of shading. The actor stays tight-lipped about season 4, except revealing that Bradley Whitford, who portrays Grace’s husband, first gentleman Todd, has a much bigger role as expected. Cahn will zero in on a dual marital study here, finding latest notes of contrast and parallel. “These characters are so different and their relationship is so different,” Sewell says. “There are only so many various levels to it — and the opportunities for drama and comedy are really being leaned into.”
This story first appeared in a July stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.