This year was my first time in Berlin. Berlinale was the only major European film festival I haven’t yet been too, and I’ll admit it wasn’t such a great experience for me. However, I remember very fondly of my interview with Alec Secăreanu & Parker Sawyers, the two main actors of the HBO Max’ series Spy/Master. We met in a very fancy hotel at one of the top floors, in a room they had spent their whole day in, giving interviews. I loved their energy after such a long day, seeing so many faces and probably saying mostly the same things. They were full of life, constantly joking and reminiscing with a lot of joy their time shooting for the series.

Filmed both in Bucharest and Budapest, Spy/Master is set in the 70’s, during the Cold War and tells the story of Victor Godeanu (Alec Secăreanu) – the director of the Ministry of External Affairs in Romania and Ceausescu’s right hand. Godeanu is also a secret spy for the KGB, the biggest enemy of Nicolae Ceausescu. When he starts being suspected, Godeanu’s only option is to defect to the United States. A suspenseful story, based on the real case of Ioan Pacepa – a general in the Securitate and Ceausescu’s confidant, who defected to the United States. Ioan Pacepa died of Covid in 2021.

I knew Pacepa’s story so when I met with Alec & Parker, we talked a lot about perspectives, how much of his character really resembles the real person and how was it working on such a multi-cultural film set.

Alec, what memories do you have from the communist years? 

I was 5 years old when Ceausescu was executed live on TV, but still, it’s a strong memory. I remember in kindergarten teachers were quite mean, slapping kids. There were lots of rumors of children being kidnapped, I grew up in Berceni but I never felt any kind of fear. We were just some kids, playing outdoor games like “Dacii si Romanii”. After the regime ended, when I started going to school, we were still learning from the same books printed by Ceausescu, with his portrait on them. He was still quite present, communism was quite present. And people, even after 40 years, are still scarred from that time.

Parker, how much do you know about communist Romania?

Just a little bit. My wife is Lithuanian, so I know how previous regimes affected the culture [n. of Eastern-European countries]. One of the reasons I wanted to do this show was to explore other people’s histories and get a better understanding of who they are now and why. 

What was your first reaction when you read the script?

Parker: I just thought it was a cool project. That was the initial thought (laughs). We’re taking a slice of history and (re)living it. 

Alec: I loved it, I’m a big fan of the genre, so I was like, “finally, Romanian stories are being told from this point of view”. I found it very clever, the way it was written – playing with the timeline, going back and forth. You have to pay a lot of attention to follow the story, and as a reader, I took it as a mystery, putting pieces together – and I love mysteries. It’s truthful to the genre. 

Romania was a country dominated by fear back then, everyone was scared for their life, and this is one of the main themes of the series. As human beings, we are afraid of a lot of things, and the challenging years that have passed might have accentuated some of those fears. So I’m curious to know what you are most afraid of in life?

Alec: Loneliness. I like being around people. 

Parker: For me is the fear of not fulfilling my potential.

Alec: No pressure (laughs)

Alec, were you interested in discussing with the writers in depth about the stuff that wasn’t in the script, in order to understand your character’s past thoroughly?

Building the background of the character is my job – what is driving him. The cues were in the script anyway, you just have to find them and put them together and figure it out, so you can then add extra layers to the character.

I did some research on the real person, but this is another story that we tried to tell. The tricky part was to keep the arc of the characters for all 6 episodes, because we didn’t film chronologically, it was all messed up. 

The director was very generous, he came with so much stuff on the table, always focused on building a good story and the right setup. We had a very dedicated crew and I always felt I’m on good hands. 

So you didn’t meet the real spy who betrayed Ceausescu? 

No. We finished the project in 2022, so I didn’t have the time to meet him, but I watched some interviews with him. But, like I said before, it helped me to a certain point because the character that I built was a different one. I didn’t want to make an impersonation, it wasn’t the case. 

Parker: I remember you saying the hardest thing to do was to turn down your natural sexiness, so to become a very serious spy. But you got there.

Alec: Thanks to you. (laughs)

What’s the dynamic between Victor and Jack, how do you see their relationship?

Parker: There’s a pendulum between trust and distrust. 

Alec: Like fire and ice. Each one of them has its own agenda but they know they couldn’t follow it without each other. They’re stuck together. 

And how was it working together?

Parker: With Alec? So difficult. 

I’m joking, we got on very well from day 1. Friends for life, honestly. We met at the costume tryout and the first thing I told him was, “hey man, I really like rehearsals”, and he said, “oh, me too” – which was great because some actors don’t like to rehearse.

We both loved digging into the scenes and understanding the intentions so when we were on set, we were ready to shoot. 

Alec: Being that prepared and having Parker to rehearse with, even when they changed the days of shooting, or the scenes, we still had them ready. We used to meet every single weekend and go through all the scenes that we were about to shoot in the following weeks. What I like about Parker is that he’s very playful and available and that’s very important to defuse the tensions. He always knows when to concentrate, when to make a joke. I find that very liberating. 

Do you have a memory from the time you were shooting that you are very fond of?

Parker: We were in the first week working together. There’s supposed to be a knock on the door, we were talking and talking and we’re supposed to hear the knock and look at the door. So we’re on camera and I don’t hear the knock so I add the knock myself. And everyone goes, “what are you doing on camera?”, and I’m like, “I don’t know. I thought we could use it”.

Alec: We were trying to keep the tension, it was a very serious scene. We were arguing, a lot of stuff was happening. We paused for a few seconds, waiting for the knock, I was trying to remain there, in character, and at one point, Parker just started knocking, and I was like, “we can see you, it’s not usable”. 

Parker: And there was another scene when we were driving and we had no lines and Alec was “mmmm-ing”, and I was like, “we are not even speaking, what is going on?” (laughs). It was one of those jobs that I loved doing. 

You filmed in many locations. I’m curious about the shop with the secret door that led to their meeting place – is it for real?

Parker: Yes. I mean the shop wasn’t there. There’s a functional coffee shop there, dressed up to look like a shop, you can visit it in Budapest. The door was built and it actually leads to the underground, where they meet.

What should we expect of the series in the next episodes? 

Alec: It is a story about survival, about the courage to take your destiny into your own hands and make the most out of it. Every episode gives you something more, even when you go back in time to the same flashbacks, you see the same moments in time, but from another angle. It constantly gives you something new about the story, about the characters.

Spy/Master will have its premiere on HBO Max on the 19th of May.

Laura Mușat

Film producer and founder of ADFR, she dreamed since she was little of having a magazine one day. Alongside her job as editor-in-chief, she writes the interview of the month. She loves animals, jazz music and films festivals.