‘Zero Day’ Filming such as ‘Swimming the English Channel’
Robert de Niro’s first trip in series television turned out to be an endurance test for the legendary actor, who compares the filming of Netflix’s “Zero Day” compared to swimming the English channel – without seeing on both coasts.
“It’s like doing three functions Back -To -Back,” De Niro said at a preview event in London on Wednesday. “I was most of it. And so I had to keep track of everything, even as simple as knowing the lines. So I compared it to being in the English canal – swimming at England from France, looking behind me and not seeing France, looking ahead, not seeing England. I have to continue, otherwise I will sink. “
The Oscar winner leads the cyber thriller as former US President George Mullen, who leads the Zero Day Commission in investigating a devastating cyber attack caused national chaos and thousands of fatalities. The situation forces Mullen to confront his own dark secrets, navigating through a landscape of disinformation and competing interests of technology, Wall Street and government brokers.
Co-maker Eric Newman (“Narcos”) developed the Six extraction series with former NBC News-President Noah Oppenheim after discussions about the relationship of society with truth. “You can look at two different news sources and get away with a completely different version of the truth and that made me terrified, and when something scares me, it inspires me a bit,” Newman said during the event. He threw the concept on the Niro during dinner and noticed that he was their first choice. “If you have someone who plays the president, a former president and someone who needed a level of authenticity and credibility and gravitas – it is a very short list and Bob was at the top.”
For the Niro, who also acts as an executive producer, the project came together organically. “I told my agent that I would like to do something where I will be in New York for five or six months,” said the Niro. “We talked about a limited series. Eric sent me one episode every few weeks, a few of them, enough to say: ‘Yes, I am ready. I’ll do it. ” ‘
The series shows Jesse Plemons as a political assistant with a complex connection with the character of the Niro. “It was really interesting to meet two characters who have a very long, complicated history that is slowly revealed about the show,” Plemons noted about their dynamics.
Written three years ago, the series received unexpected relevance. “Things have happened since we could have predicted,” said Newman. Despite his dark themes, he marks the ultimately hopeful message of the show. “I hope that the collection meals is that there is hope for us, even in this world where every day is getting more and more hopeless,” he said.
And about the niro casting as an American president, Newman said: “That is the kind of ambitious part of it – it is the person in the job you wish was at work.”
The series is directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, who helps all six episodes. Michael S. Schmidt and Jonathan Glickman join Newman, Oppenheim and the Niro as executive producers. The cast also contained Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Joan Allen, Matthew Modine and Angela Bassett.
“Zero Day” will premiere worldwide on Netflix on February 20.
