One of this year’s best new shows, The Americans has quickly proven to be a tense, involving series, as it follows two KGB spies hidden in plain sight in 1981 suburbia, under the guise of a married couple. One fascinating part of the series has been the story of Nina, played by Annet Mahendru, a KGB employee who has been forced to turn mole for the FBI. Nina’s situation has only gotten more complicated in recent weeks, as her relationship with her married FBI handler, Stan (Noah Emmerich) became a romantic one, even as Stan has taken a very dark turn she’s unaware of.
It’s a big year for Mahendru, who also appears in Escape From Tomorrow, a much buzzed-about film that was covertly shot at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. While Escape From Tomorrow has been screening at festivals, many question whether it will find distribution, given how it was made and the fear of reprisal from Disney. [Click Here for HitFix.com’s Drew McWeeney’s write up on the film from Sundance earlier this year]. Mahendru -- who can speak seven languages -- plays one of two French teenage girls who catch the eye of the film’s protagonist, a man unraveling during a trip to Walt Disney World with his family, in the wake of learning he’s lost his job – and who begins to see some very surreal things along the way.
I sat down with Mahendru to talk about her role on The Americans and what’s to come as Season 1 nears its conclusion. We also talked about the experience of making Escape From Tomorrow and whether she thinks it will find distribution.
Annet Mahendru as Nina in The Americans.
IGN: Everyone’s got such a crazy situation on The Americans, but your character, she’s really stuck. Of course, this situation began because she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. Have you thought about what her life was like before all this began?
Mahendru: Well, I’m learning now -- which you will discover, I think, two episodes from now -- more of my backstory. I won’t say too much, but I’m a trained spy. They pick me up for a reason. I’m not just a girl that ended up where she is, so there is a really colorful background that will unfold. I think it will start to unfold in about two episodes. You will learn more about Nina. It’s very interesting.
IGN: It’s the nature of the show, but you don’t really interact with Keri or Matthew. Noah’s kind of the link for everyone.
Mahendru: He is, he is. We see each other at table reads. I closely watch what they do. Again, I think more will happen on Wednesday. I climb the ladder. I’m a junior officer, and I got promoted, as you saw. I’m getting really high up there. I will be involved with Directorate S in one way or another. So yeah, it’s gonna get really twisted.
Annet Mahendru and Noah Emmerich in The Americans.
IGN: While you could feel the attraction on Stan’s end, Nina basically initiated what happened between them. What do you think motivated that? Do you think there was an actual romantic pull, or was it about ensuring her own safety?
Mahendru: Well, he makes her feel really safe, and that’s just the laws of nature to gravitate towards that. He takes care of me even though, before, I’ve never been involved in the spy game. I was just starting out, and he really throws me in there. So it’s very complicated. At the same time, we relate to each other. He’s been where I was. So yeah, I think there’s the normal, human feelings and curiosities. Nina doesn’t have a boyfriend, She was just working. It hasn’t been that long since Nina’s come to the U.S. -- he’s an American man, and it’s very fascinating. At the same time, he’s my biggest enemy. But Nina’s not as innocent as we think she is. I feel like the more she becomes involved with him, the more safe it actually becomes for her. Nina knows he has a family, and that comes first. So in a way, I think it almost becomes safer when they become the most unsafe, when we start being intimate. Because now the responsibility just grows, especially for him. My life is in his hands. I know he already has a home, and I also want that safe home and that safe place. So we’re both discovering each other, Nina and Stan. We also don’t know what’s going to happen, but we know it’s getting really dangerous. As I’m climbing the ladder, too, I’m starting to have more options, and he knows that. It really just depends on what Arkady will offer me, right? Because for me my options are either exfiltration with Stan, prison -- now that I’ve done something bad -- or execution. So those options depend on what Arkady will let me do, what he figures out. Then I’ll have to make a choice.
IGN: Now there’s another undercurrent going on because of Vlad and this horrible secret Stan is keeping.
Mahendru: That uncovers a lot of things.
Source : ign[dot]com
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