Keen on ‘Blacklist’
Megan Boone talks about early-season success on NBC
You never really know these people. That’s one of the themes . . . a person’s true identity is never fully exposed.
— Megan Boone
NBC has given “The
Blacklist” a big vote of confidence by renewing the series for a full season after only two episodes.
It was almost predictable, based on the show’s solid ratings (12 million viewers) and the watercooler buzz it’s generated so early in the game: is mysterious rogue agent Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) the secret father of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone)?
“I think the show is going to throw in a lot of red herrings and make you believe certain things that aren’t necessarily true,” says Boone.
So far, in its first two episodes — episode three airs Monday night at 10) — we’ve seen rogue exgovernment agent Red surrender to the FBI and offer to help catch really bad guy terrorists on one condition: that he work only with Elizabeth, who’s just joined the FBI as a profiler.
And that’s what has the show’s fans surmising that there may be some unknown fatherdaughter connection. Maybe. Or not. “You never really know these people,” Boone says, not giving anything away. “But that’s one of the themes of the show — a person’s true identity is never fully exposed to the people around them.
“It takes peeling back the layers to really see someone’s true self.”
Ironically, with “The Blacklist” pulling in solid numbers for NBC — and now given the gift of a fullseason order — Boone says she wasn’t looking to star in a network show when the opportunity arose.
“I actually wasn’t interested in working on a net work TV show coming into pilot season this year,” says Boone, who previously appeared in “Cold Case,” “Blue Bloods” and the shortlived “Law & Order: LA.”
“I kind of made the de cision to not be very aggressive about seeking those jobs, but people I worked with continued to send me scripts.
“I didn’t want to completely shut it out, and after I read the script for ‘The Blacklist’ I just knew it was something I needed to do and pursue — it just instantly piqued my interest and the character of Elisabeth was so interesting to me.
“She’s just a very purposely ambiguous woman and you don’t re ally know much about her — which is an interesting thing for an actor. You get to have a lot of secrets.
“And I like keeping a lot of secrets from the audience and the other characters in the show. “It’ a lot of fun.” Boone says that, even though “The Blacklist” is one of this fall’s talkers, she and the other cast members haven’t really noticed the excitement.
“We work very long hours and we’re not exposed as much to the watercooler talk,” she says.
“But since the first two episodes have aired, everybody here has a lot of interest in how it’s done — people are constantly refreshing their computers to see what the ratings are the following day.
“There’s been sort of celebratory feeling on the set.” The show’s early season success has also manifested itself in other ways, Boone says.
“I was shooting a scene in Madison Square Park [last Thursday] and my gun holster fell off in the middle of a take and I had to start over.
“I really wanted to have a good [gun] draw because I’m getting competitive with myself about my gunhandling skills and I was kind of bummed out about that.
“I passed by this person on the street and he goes, ‘It’s OK, you’re Liz Keen, you can do it!’
“It’s awesome that people everywhere are rooting for our characters.”