New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Takes two to tango in ABC’s ‘Whiskey Cavalier’
LOS ANGELES — ABC’s new drama “Whiskey Cavalier” is the story of he spied, she spied where FBI super-agent Will Chase (code name Whiskey Cavalier) must work with the take-no-prisoners CIA operative Frankie Trowbridge (code name Fiery Tribune) to run an interagency team.
Their relationship is a mix of hatred, tension, mutual respect and competitiveness. Chase (Scott Foley) is a sentimentalist who is dealing with a broken heart after being dumped. Trowbridge (Lauren Cohan) would rather kick someone in the asterisk than show her true feelings.
Foley was excited to get to play a character that went against the spy guy norm.
“I have a very strong belief that it’s time to sort of reinvent that trope that is the leading man in an action series. To me, at least, something unrelatable to a lot of the tropes you see in the men that we know to save the world on the television shows we grew up on,” Foley says. “This is something that I think is modern and more interesting — for me, at least. It’s much more relatable to have a character like this than someone sort of stoic instead.”
Executive producers Dave Hemingson and Bill Lawrence have made it easy for the audience to believe Trowbridge can be so tough by casting Cohan. The British-American actress and model has been showing off her fighting and survival skills since 2011 on “The Walking Dead.”
Cohan jokes she’s so comfortable with the physical elements that she even does Foley’s stunts. She gets serious and adds that the strength of the show is how it can go from dealing with deep emotional issues to a huge fight sequence.
Foley comes to “Whiskey Cavalier” after starring in the intense TV drama “Scandal.” His other credits include “Fatal Vision,” “True Blood,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Unit.” “Whiskey Cavalier” reunites Foley with Lawrence, who produced the comedy series “Scrubs.” That Lawrence was behind the spy drama gave Foley confidence there would be comedic moments, something he was looking for with his next job.
“It was the most important thing for me when doing the show. I wasn’t interested in just doing an action show or a drama. I wanted to do a show that reminded me of the shows that I grew up watching, ‘Remington Steele,’ ‘Moonlighting,’ ‘Hart to Hart,’ ‘Simon & Simon,’” Foley says. “I miss those light one-hour shows. And for me, I wouldn’t be interested in doing this if the comedy wasn’t there.”
The cast of “Whiskey Cavalier” also includes Ana Ortiz, Tyler James Williams, Vir Das and Josh Hopkins. ABC will broadcast a sneak peek of “Whiskey Cavalier” after The 91st Academy Awards today before it moves to its regular time slot of 10 p.m. Wednesdays.