A Harry Situation
Based on Len Deighton’s famed spy novel, The Ipcress
File follows British special agent Harry Palmer (Peaky
Blinders’ Joe Cole) as he’s put on the trail of a missing nuclear scientist. “He’s a detective, he’s a spy, but he is very different,” says Joe of his Cold War sleuth. “He’s from a working-class background. He’s operating in a different world with different classes. He’s hyperintelligent and he’s fun, and for me, the most important thing was trying to capture that.” To prepare for the role, Joe watched the original 1965 film starring Michael Caine as the iconic spy. “But then I quickly realized that I wanted to put my own spin on it,” he explains. “I started worrying that I was going to start trying to do a Michael Caine impersonation without actually realizing I was doing it!”