Easily one of our most anticipated films of next year is “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” a new adaptation of John Le Carre’s seminal spy novel and one of the true classics of the genre, from Working Title Films and Tomas Alfredson, director of “Let The Right One In.” A terrific ensemble cast has been assembled, with Gary Oldman in the lead role of George Smiley, and Colin Firth, Tom Hardy (who recently replaced the originally cast Michael Fassbender), Benedict Cumberbatch, Jared Harris and Ciaran Hinds all joining him.
Producer Tim Bevan of Working Title spoke to Baz Bamigboye, who’s been all over the casting for this one, and revealed a couple of key tidbits on the eve of filming commencing. First of all, the seemingly omnipresent Mark Strong (“Kick-Ass,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Robin Hood”) has joined the cast in an unknown role. The actor’s been making a living out of playing villains for a couple of years now, so we hope his role is at least a little more ambivalent, but he’s a terrific actor, and a fine addition to the cast.
Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenko (“Bless This Woman” “Love in the Big City”) has also come on board, for the key role of Russian spy Irina. There’s still no mention of Ralph Fiennes, who was announced as being part of the cast originally, but may have dropped out in order to focus on his directorial debut “Coriolanus” (David Thewlis was also mentioned early on, but seems to have fallen off).
Bevan also revealed that, while there was some initial talk of updating the film to the present, Le Carre insisted on retaining the 1970s setting — a sensible move, as we’re not sure it would work without the Cold War as its backdrop. Bamigboye also talked about the project at Toronto, where he praised Morgan’s script saying, “He’s made it dialogue-free a lot of the time. It’s quite masterful. For instance, a tiny hand movement can signify something of great importance, and the nuance in somebody’s expression can mean something major.”
And, while it’s an espionage movie, Firth makes it clear that anyone going in expecting an action-fest will be disappointed: “What I love about Le Carre is that it’s more about human motivation than whodunnit. The reason why somebody betrays their country is personal and passionate… It’s reality based as opposed to James Bond or ‘Mission: Impossible,’ and the thing is, we’re fascinated by the basic nuts and bolts of the tradecraft!”
Filming kicks off in the next few weeks, for, what we imagine will be an awards season release next year. With an incredibly high-caliber cast and crew, working from excellent source material, we’re counting the days until this one hits.