''Condor'' is an American

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

television series based on the novel ''

Six Days of the Condor ''Six Days of the Condor'' is a thriller novel by American author James Grady, first published in 1974 by W.W. Norton. The story is a suspense drama set in then-contemporary Washington, D.C., and is considerably different from the 1975 film vers ...

'' by

James Grady James Grady may refer to: * James Grady (footballer) (born 1971), Scottish footballer * James Grady (author) James Grady (born April 30, 1949) is an American writer and investigative journalist known for his thriller novels on espionage, intrig ...

and its 1975 film adaptation ''

Three Days of the Condor ''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based ...

'' written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel. The series stars

Max Irons Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in films such as '' Red Riding Hood'' (2011), '' The White Queen'' (2013), '' The Host'' (2013), ''Woman in Gold'' (2014), '' T ...

. The series was created by Todd Katzberg,

Jason Smilovic Jason Smilovic is an American writer and executive producer, as well as the creator of the television series ''Karen Sisco'', ''Kidnapped'', '' My Own Worst Enemy'', and ''Condor''. He also wrote the film ''Lucky Number Slevin''. Smilovic gradua ...

, and Ken Robinson and premiered on June 6, 2018 on

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players" ...

. In July 2018, the series had been renewed for a second season, although in January 2020, Audience announced it would be ending operations in its current format. The second season, already filmed at the time of the announcement, premiered on June 9, 2020, on

C More C More Entertainment AB is a pay television company that previously operated as Canal+. It targets Nordic countries and has a separate channel in Sweden (C More Film). The main competitors of C More Entertainment are Viasat Film and Viasat ...

and

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel. History In the 1970s, the Iri ...

. In December 2020, its existing two seasons were picked up by

Epix Epix (pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as P) is an American Pay television, premium cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by the Epix Entertainment Limited liability company, LLC subsidiary of Metro- ...

. They began premiering the second season on November 7, 2021.

Premise

Joe Turner is an idealistic millennial who joins the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and hopes to reform it from within. He stumbles onto a secret plan that threatens the lives of millions. When professional killers massacre everyone in his office, Joe is forced into a battle with the most dangerous elements of the military-industrial complex.

Cast and characters

Main

as Joe Turner, a CIA analyst whose fellow agents in the research and development office are all killed. Marko Vujicic portrays a young Joe Turner in a recurring role. *

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. H ...

as Bob Partridge (season 1, guest season 2), Joe's paternal uncle by marriage and the man who recruited him into joining the CIA. * Leem Lubany as Gabrielle Joubert (season 1, guest season 2), a former Mossad assassin working for the CIA operating as a freelancer. * Angel Bonanni as Deacon Mailer (season 1), an assassin. *

Kristen Hager Kristen Hager is a Canadian actress. She co-starred in films '' Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' (2007) and '' Wanted'' (2008), and played Leslie Van Houten in the independent film ''Leslie, My Name Is Evil'' (2009). From 2011 to 2014, Hager star ...

as Mae Barber, the wife of Joe's CIA colleague Sam. *

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's '' Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

as Marty Frost (season 1), Bob's former lover who leads the official investigation into Joe's alleged crime. *

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

as Reuel Abbott, the Deputy Director of the CIA. *

Toby Leonard Moore Toby Leonard Moore (born 28 April 1981) is an Australian actor, best known for his roles as Victor in ''John Wick'' (2014), as James Wesley in the Netflix series ''Daredevil'' (2015), and Bryan Connerty in the Showtime series '' Billions'' (20 ...

as Gordon Piper (season 2) *

Constance Zimmer Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for playing Dana Gordon in the television series '' Entourage'' (2005–2011) and Claire Simms in the television series ''Boston Legal'' (2006–2007). She ...

as Robin Larkin (season 2) * Alexei Bondar as Vasili Sirin (season 2) *

Isidora Goreshter Isidora Goreshter (born October 24, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Svetlana on the U.S. TV series '' Shameless'' from seasons 3 to 8. Early life Goreshter was born and raised in Long Beach, California, where she b ...

as Kat Gnezdy (season 2) * Jonathan Kells Phillips as Akardyr Volk (season 2) * Eric Johnson as Tracy Crane (season 2)

Recurring

* Katherine Cunningham as Kathy Hale (season 1) *

Brendan Fraser Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...

as Nathan Fowler (season 1) * Gage Graham-Arbuthnot as Jude Barber *

Sam McCarthy Sam McCarthy is a New Zealand songwriter and pop vocalist. He is best known for his work in Kids of 88 and Goodnight Nurse. Early life McCarthy was brought up in Auckland in the suburb of Weymouth. He was educated at Weymouth Primary School ...

as Sam Barber Jr. *

Kristoffer Polaha Kristoffer Polaha is an American actor and author. He is known for his starring roles on television as Jason Matthews in ''North Shore'', Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile in ''Life Unexpected'', and Henry Butler in ''Ringer''. He has also appeared in fi ...

as Sam Barber (season 1) * Steve Belford as Manfredi (season 1) * Jamie Robinson as The Watcher (season 1) *

Christina Moses Christina Marie Moses is an American actress. She is known for portraying Jana Mayfield on The CW's limited series ''Containment'' and Keelin on The CW drama series '' The Originals''. In 2016, she played the leading role of Marie Walker in the m ...

as Sharla Shepard (season 1) *

Gabriel Hogan Gabriel Hogan (born 17 May 1973) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is best known for his continuing role on the hit cable television firefighter comedy series '' Tacoma FD'', CBC/Up TV/Netflix’s '' Heartland'' and the drama ''Condor'' ...

as Boyd Ferris (season 1) * Ellen Wong as Sarah Tan (season 1) * Michelle Vergara Moore as Carla Tizon (season 2) *

Kate Vernon Katherine Elizabeth Vernon (born April 21, 1961) is a Canadian-born American actress. She is known for her roles as Lorraine Prescott on the CBS primetime soap opera '' Falcon Crest'' (from 1984–1985), the stuck-up and popular Benny Hanson in ...

as Lily Partridge * Samer Salem as Ammar Nazari (season 1) * Mouna Traoré as Iris Loramer (season 1) * Delmar Abuzeid as Caleb Wolfe (season 1) * Melissa O'Neil as Janice (season 1) *

Kjartan Hewitt Kerr Hewitt, also credited professionally as Kjartan Hewitt, is a Canadian actor and writer. He won the Best Actor award at the Sicily Web Festival for his performance in the YouTube web series ''Clusterfuck'' (2018). Career Acting Hewitt began ...

as Harold Floss (season 1) * Jess Salgueiro as Jada * Tennille Read as Ellie * Jamie McShane as Gareth Lloyd * John Bourgeois as Nathan's Father (season 1) * Taylor Thorne as Chloe Fowler * Jean-Michel Le Gal as Elden Loramer (season 1) * Ahmed Muslimani as Saeed Abu-Saeed *

Rita Volk Margarita Volkovinskaya (russian: Маргарита Волковинская, born September 3, 1990), known professionally as Rita Volk, is an Uzbekistani–American actress. She is known for her role as Amy Raudenfeld in the MTV romantic co ...

as Polina (season 2)

Guest

* Julian Black Antelope as Mika ("What Loneliness") * James McDougall as Tim Edward Mburu ("What Loneliness") * Roger Dunn as Dr. Lappe ("What Loneliness") * Kevin Claydon as Patrick ("The Solution to All Problems") * Jennifer Foster as Sophia Folwer ("A Good Patriot") * Raven Dauda as Hoyle ("A Good Patriot") *

Allison Hossack Allison Hossack (born January 26, 1965) is a Canadian actress. Early years Born in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, Hossack grew up in Killarney, Manitoba, and participated in musical theatre productions while a student there. She began her studie ...

as Melanie Abbot ("No Such Thing")

Episodes

Each episode's title is borrowed from a quote, which is displayed along its author.

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2020)

Production

Development

On May 13, 2016, it was announced that

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...

had given the production a series order. Production companies involved with the series were reported to include Skydance Television and

MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...

. On February 6, 2017, it was announced that

and Todd Katzberg would write the series. Smilovic would also act as showrunner and executive produce alongside Katzberg,

David Ellison David Ellison (born January 9, 1983) is an American film producer and actor best known as the founder and CEO of Skydance Media. Early life and education David Ellison was born in Santa Clara County, California. He is the son of billionaire Ora ...

, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross. On March 27, 2017,

Andrew McCarthy Andrew Thomas McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor, travel writer, and television director. He is most known as a member of the Brat Pack, with roles in 1980s films such as '' St. Elmo's Fire'', '' Pretty in Pink'', and '' Le ...

mentioned in an interview with ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

'' that he would serve as an executive producer for the series and direct a few episodes. On April 6, 2017, it was announced that

Lawrence Trilling Lawrence Trilling is a television director who has worked on many popular shows, including ''Alias'', '' Felicity'', ''Invasion'', ''Monk'', ''Pushing Daisies'', ''Scrubs'', '' Roswell'', ''Goliath'', and '' Parenthood''. In 2017, Trilling wa ...

would direct the series' first three episodes and act as an executive producer. On July 27, 2018, it was announced during the annual

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts a ...

's summer press tour that the series had been renewed for a second season. In February 2022, Epix renewed the show again for a third season.

Casting

On February 6, 2017, it was announced that

had been cast in the series' lead role. In April 2017, it was reported that

, Leem Lubany,

, and Angel Bonanni had joined the main cast and that

, Katherine Cunningham,

, and

had been cast in recurring roles. On August 25, 2017, it was announced that Mouna Traoré and Ellen Wong had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.

Filming

Principal photography for the series was expected to last from April 23 to August 15, 2017 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Ontario, Canada. Filming primarily took place at

Cinespace Film Studios Cinespace Film Studios is a series of film studio facilities founded in 1988, by Greek-Canadian Nick Mirkopoulos. It includes a facility in Vaughan, that has been in operation since the 1960s. In 2007 Mirkopoulos helped his Greek-American nepheAle ...

Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate sectio ...

facility. On May 30, 2017, Jack Lakey, a ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' columnist, contacted the city's film liaison office, after ''Condor'' crew members allegedly bullied local residents. In Lakey's follow-up article the next day he quoted film industry workers, who supported those working on the production. Filming for the second season began on April 29, 2019 and ended on August 29, 2019.

Release

Marketing

On February 22, 2018, Audience released a behind-the-scenes video for the series.

Premiere

On March 10, 2018, the series held its official premiere in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

at the annual

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Film Festival. Audience also hosted an interactive experience called "Condor Headquarters" during the festival. Guests to the exhibit were offered the chance to participate in authentic CIA activities such as skill tests, physical and digital technology tactics,

lie detection Lie detection is an assessment of a verbal statement with the goal to reveal a possible intentional deceit. Lie detection may refer to a cognitive process of detecting deception by evaluating message content as well as non-verbal cues. It also ma ...

, and environmental analysis. The experience also allowed guests to win prizes and screen exclusive content from the series. In June 2018, the series was screened at the annual ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas. A question-and-answer session followed the screening featuring director/executive producer Lawrence Trilling and cast members Leem Lubany, Katherine Cunningham, Kristen Hager, and Kristoffer Polaha.

Reception

On the review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the series holds an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 6.67 out of 10 based on 14 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Condor'' never aspires to be a realistic depiction of spy games – instead, it excels at evoking a uniquely 21st century brand of paranoia with its slick concept and propulsive pacing."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 66 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." In a positive review, ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

''s Ben Travers praised the series calling it "a Smartly Expanded Adaptation" and saying that it was "a solid spy story that updates the right elements without tarnishing old treasures."

References

External links

* * {{Audience Network 2018 American television series debuts 2010s American drama television series 2020s American drama television series English-language television shows MGM+ original programming Audience (TV network) original programming Live action television shows based on films Television series by MGM Television Television series about the Central Intelligence Agency Television shows filmed in Toronto American spy thriller television series Television series by Paramount Television Television series by Skydance Television