The Blacklist: Parminder Nagra and EPs Discuss James Spader, Favorite Moments, More

The Blacklist is among TV's biggest new hits of the 2013-2014 broadcast season, and with good reason. Aside from James Spader's towering performances as Raymond "Red" Reddington, there's the creativity behind writers/executive producers John Eisendrath and Jon Bokenkamp, who have crafted a cast of intriguing characters: from the Blacklisters themselves, to the law enforcement officials who track them. Such characters includes Meera Malik, the badass CIA agent played by Parminder Nagra. The actress joined the EPs for a special conference call discussing James Spader, their favorite moments of the series, and what we can expect in the future.

Credit: NBC

On what it is about the Blacklist that makes the executive producers excited?

John Eisendrath: I think that - what's a good answer to that question? I think that one of the answers is, and I think one of the reasons that it's a success, is that it's got a great character at the center. And he - writing for Red is an incredibly fun thing to do.

And, you know, we spend a lot of time crafting the stories and the procedural beats and the bread and butter of the show but nothing makes us laugh more than when we're trying to figure out what Red would say in any given situation.

Jon Bokenkamp: Yeah. And this is Bokenkamp. ... But I - to me all of my past experience has been in feature films where they take six years to go from, you know, an idea or something on the page to an actual movie, if they ever do.

And here, things happen so quickly. ... We have an idea or, like John said, something makes us laugh or we have something that surprises us, we put it on paper and very quickly it's on air. And to me, that's sort of a fascinating and really exciting process.

On the story behind how Parminder got the part, and whether it's empowering to play such a "badass" character:

Parminder Nagra: Well the story is - I sort of feel like it came a little out of left field for me. I was asked to go in and audition for this part. And so you'd probably have to ask the two Johns more specifically. But I was asked to go and audition and didn't know too much about the character and just sort of proceeded to find out what was going to happen with.

And playing a "badass" character, I have to say I'm enjoying it -- probably a bit too much sometimes. It's very empowering, and I love it. I really, really do enjoy playing such a strong female character. It's nice. And you don't get a lot of those parts, especially on TV for women that are so strong. So it's nice to be able to do that and to be part of something like this.

On what made Parminder right for this part:

Jon Bokenkamp: Well look, I think Parminder has an ability to be sort of both warm but also formidable. I think the formidable part is what's sort of unexpected about the character and what is fun to explore. You know, in the second episode she was torturing some poor Blacklister, pulling the femur bone up out of his leg. And it's not the kind of thing that you would expect her to do, and yet she does it quite well.

So I think that's really the answer: it's a little bit unexpected and yet still somehow believable. And so that's really what we saw.

On what it's like to write a mystery show like this, and how major reveals are planned out:

Jon Bokenkamp: Well, you know, it's difficult. It's hard to know and we're constantly asking ourselves that question ... about when is too soon, you know, "are we giving away too much?", "are we burning through story too much?" It's also sort of a difficult balance of the show, a sort of strange hybrid of serialized and standalone episodes. We have a case of the week each week.

And so, you know, we want to service that and we want to have cool, different, unusual Blacklisters. But at the same time, we want to come back to our central characters and the larger questions that are, you know, raised by the show. And so, you know, we just try to gut check each other in the writer's room and try to slow down as much as we can because the instinct is to, you know, move quickly.

On the most difficult scene to shoot and why:

Jon Bokenkamp: Well I think the one that comes to mind for us is the bridge sequence in the pilot where, you know, there's a car crash and lots of gunfire. And the thing that made it the most difficult was simply that we were on a bridge in New York and it was absolutely freezing and we had, you know, people in the water and crazy winds blowing. And it was just physically a very challenging shoot.

But Parminder probably has far more stories about miserable shooting conditions and difficulties of that than we do because we're sitting in Los Angeles and it's 80 degrees today. So I shouldn't complain.

Parminder Nagra: Thanks. [Laughs] God. I suppose the difficulty - the most difficult scene. I think there was one night here and even though I know I'm from London I was just like, "I can't. I don't know if I can do this." It was just too damn cold and too late in the evening. So there's moments like that -- just this weather, you know.

On whether there was anything about the character of Agent Malik that wasn't originally scripted that Parminder added to the role:

Parminder Nagra: Gosh.

Jon Bokenkamp: The accent.

Parminder Nagra: I have to say when I first was going to go in for this part, I had actually learned the audition piece with an American accent. And I was pleasantly surprised and told I could do it in my own accent, which was just liberating on so many levels. ... I feel like I'm sort of getting a bit more of a better handle on who she is as well. But we're constantly being surprised with the script, which is really nice because it's just the reveals happening slowly. And it's nice to open the script ever week and not quite know. Like you sort of feel like you might be going in a particular direction but it makes you play the scenes truthfully in the moment without too much knowledge.

I mean you obviously got to have a basic background knowledge of who this person is. But also, the nice part of doing the series is you get to really create something that's original that hopefully lasts for years. So...

John Eisendrath: And we have some great revelations, where Parminder's character is concerned, coming up in upcoming episodes. And, you know, we weren't able to find a way to have those for a while. And we have some, I think, really great moments for her character in the upcoming episodes that will, I think, change people's perspective about her character dramatically.

On what it is about The Blacklist that has made it such a fan favorite program:

Parminder Nagra: I think it's the mixture: a serialized drama between the procedural and the characters, more importantly. I think you can often have so many shows that do the serialized part that, and just do that bit particularly well. And you never really get to find out about the characters.

And I think that's what an audience craves. Certainly what I crave when I watch a show is I want to know who these people are, what makes them tick. And the fact that Red Reddington and Liz Keen are such a mystery and people want to know the answers, it keeps them guessing; I think, you know, they want to know. They want to find out and they're hanging in week after week to find out who these characters are. And people care about these characters as well. You want to have something to care about and something to relate to. And of course, you know, you've got all the action. You know, it's thrilling to watch all the mayhem that occurs, week after week.

And these bad guys are such interesting characters in themselves. It's character and story and the action. I think it's just one great package. And I think people love that. And I love watching that myself.

On what James Spader has brought to the project:

Jon Bokenkamp: You know, I think he's brought the sort of strange sense of humor that the character has, that the show has and I think that's sort of something that he saw in the original pilot script. And I didn't see it as much. But I do think Spader himself has a very strange perspective on the world, and is a very funny guy. And so, you know, in speaking with him and getting to know him and starting to get to know his voice sort of allows us to think in terms of "what would this guy say?", "what would he do?", "what would he think is moral or not moral?"

And so I do think that that sense of humor and that voice is something that's been helpful in sort of filling out.

John Eisendrath: And I would just add to what Jon mentioned -- morality. We have a lot of conversations, John and I, and then with James as well about Red - "where would he draw the line?", "what is his view about good and evil, right and wrong?"

And I think he's very determined that the is not a psychopath. He's not someone who, you know, has no sense of right and wrong. I think viewing him with a sense of right and wrong really protects his character from just becoming evil. And I think he's very aware of that, and that that perspective is something I think he has helped to bring.

On whether there is a definitive answer to the question of what the relationship is between Red and Liz, and whether we will find that out this season or down the road:

John Eisendrath: Yes and no.

Jon Bokenkamp: Yes and no.

Jon Bokenkamp: Yeah. That's - yes. There is absolutely a definitive answer and it is something that we'll take hopefully many years to answer. But it will certainly not be something that we will, you know, lay out right upfront here.

John Eisendrath: But we will, as I feel we've done the first ten episodes, we'll continue this year to give concrete answers to that and other big questions. They may not just be the final answer.

On how writing and filming will be changed to fit James Spader in future seasons, since Spader only joined the project days before the pilot filmed:

John Eisendrath: Well I just think shows that succeed unfold in a way where the show tells us where to go as much as we tell the stories. You know, there's an organic sort of unpacking of a TV show that's working.

So we've got the luxury of a second season and 22 more episodes. And I think, partly, the thing to do in trying to figure out the direction of the show is just to be open to sort of where it takes you. There's no version where John and I could have anticipated half or a quarter of the stories and the directions that we have gone in, if you had asked us that question four months ago. The show sort of takes a direction. It has a life of its own. And we try and sort of ride it in the direction we feel like it's going.

And I think that if you're open to that you'll be able to find the stories that are best for the show rather than saying "okay, here's where we're going. This is the roadmap and we're sticking to this," because you just can't do that. You have to be open-minded and let the show sort of speak to you.

And Spader, you know, his character is going to take him and us in directions that none of us can anticipate.

On whether the intensity of the show is stressful for Parminder:

Parminder Nagra: No. I mean, I think the scenes I've been involved in, we have a pretty good laugh on set. I think, of course, when you're working in the particular scenes, I enjoy those moments of running around chasing bad guys because you're playing, almost like cops and robbers.

But no, I actually have quite a good laugh on set in between takes. So when you get down to the actual work part of it and doing the scenes, you enjoy that part of it and get focused for those moments, and knowing what you want to do with it, obviously. I think, you know, we have a good balance on set. Nobody goes totally crazy or anything like that. But I think we have a good balance.

On how far ahead Parminder knows what's going to happen and how important is it for her to know the direction of the story:

Parminder Nagra: I don't know too far ahead at all. I had an instance recently where I was like "this is going where?" And then the Johns - the two Johns...

John Eisendrath: We called you.

Parminder Nagra: I know you did and then they said, "We can either explain this to you now or you can wait and find out till the next episode." And I actually, in that instance, made the decision that I didn't want to find out, actually. I wanted to find out when the next draft of the next episode came out.

And it goes back to what I was saying before, which is like, I like being able to pick up the next script like everybody else and open up and see a surprise. It's thrilling to sort of open up the scripts and go "oh, this is where it's going," because that's the part that makes it exciting.

So, I mean, I like to sort of have a general idea maybe, but it's also nice not to know. A bit like life really. Sometimes you just don't want to know.

On whether the series will continue in its procedural storytelling of Cases of the Week, or if the show will have more of an emphasis on serialization like what we got with the midseason finale?

John Eisendrath: No. I think the midseason finale is more an exception to the rule where the personal stories just bubble up to the surface and all come together in a way that are, you know, unavoidable and take over the episode.

But there'll be a name on the Blacklist every episode. I think that's part of the fun of the series. It can provide unique and different kinds of bad guys that the team can go after. So that is definitely a big part of the show.

On whether the show will have any guest stars in upcoming episodes:

Jon Bokenkamp: The only one that we can definitely confirm is that Campbell Scott is in an episode coming up two episodes from now. I'm trying to think if there's anyone else we know about. I think that's it at the moment.

On whether the executive producers have a definitive idea on how many episodes the show is going to run:

John Eisendrath: Well I think the audience gets to decide how many members of the Blacklist there are. ... They keep watching the show, there'll be more. It'll run until the audience runs out of interest.

On what Parminder finds most fascinating about her character:

Parminder Nagra: For me, what I find most fascinating. I feel like there's this whole side to her because she's in the CIA, the things that she's seen or has been through. Because, initially, when the character was described, it was that she stepped away for a little bit of time and then came back onto this specific case.

It interests me to sort of go "Well, you know, having been in the CIA she's thoroughly seen and experienced quite a lot and there's clearly this hard side to her." I like that she can get down and dirty if she needs to. And that really appeals to me. I love it when those moments are written and she can show that whole new serious side to her. I find that really, really appealing.