Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Anything for love
Diving into a great spy novel can be thrilling, but it can be just as exciting to see the characters come alive onscreen. A riveting tale of international espionage is about to get the small-screen treatment, and viewers won’t want to miss it.
Idealistic young actress Charlie (Florence Pugh, “Lady Macbeth,” 2016) becomes involved with Becker (Alexander Skarsgård, “True Blood”), an Israeli intelligence officer, in AMC’s six-part miniseries “The Little Drummer Girl,” premiering Monday, Nov. 19, and continuing Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 20 and 21. Set in the 1970s, the show recounts a tale of love and betrayal against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
An international co-production between AMC, BBC One and The Ink Factory, “The Little Drummer Girl” is an adaptation of John le Carré’s 1983 novel of the same name. The show was announced following the success of Emmy-winning miniseries “The Night Manager,” which was adapted from another le Carré book and also produced by BBC One, AMC and The Ink Factory.
In “The Little Drummer Girl,” Charlie gets to know Becker while on vacation in Greece, but she soon discovers there’s more to the intriguing stranger than meets the eye. It isn’t long before she realizes that he isn’t interested in romance. Instead, he draws her into a complex and high-stakes plot, forcing the young actress into the role of a lifetime in a “theater of the real.”
The production marks the television debut of visionary film director Park Chan-wook (“The Handmaiden,” 2016). It was filmed in London, Greece and Prague, and Chan-wook was at the helm every step of the way. As the director of the spy thriller, he finally brings his silver screen skills to the small screen. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Chan-wook is one of the most popular filmmakers in his homeland, thanks to his work on films such as “Thirst” (2009) and what is known as The Vengeance Trilogy, a series consist-