STACK#127 May 2016

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TURN: WASHINGTON’S SPIES

I was amazed by how little America as a whole knew about these people who did this incredible thing.

• Turn: Washington’s Spies: The Complete First Season is out May 24

How much did you already know about the American Revolution before taking on the role of AbrahamWoodhull? JAMIE BELL: I hope my teachers don’t slay me for saying this — and I might be wrong — but I learned literally nothing about that time in history. Even when I was reading the pilot script, I was like, “What are we talking about here?” We learned about all the other wars, but for some reason, the Revolutionary War just wasn’t something that was in textbooks. I was just amazed from reading the scripts by how little I knew about it. Have you read the book on which the series is based, Alexander Rose’sWashington’s Spies? Yes. I was amazed by how little America as a whole knew about these people who did this incredible thing. People would ask me what I’ve been up to and I’d say, “A show about the Culper Ring,” assuming that it was definitely a part of American curriculum. Everyone would be like, “Culper what?” I was blown away — it’s so unknown. I think what Alexander’s book has done, and hopefully what we’ll do with the show, is shed some light and show people that beyond just Washington as this great leader and commander were incredibly hard-working people underneath him who took all these risks to pave the way for the future of the country.

What kind of research did you do on the life of the real AbrahamWoodhull? I emailed back and forth a lot with Alexander Rose and he emailed me a link to some of the letters that Abe Woodhull sent to Washington and Ben Tallmadge. His handwriting was incredibly difficult to read, and I think I know why. In filming the show, I often have to jot down a lot of information and I realized why you can’t read any of Abe’s writing –- it’s because he had to write incredibly quickly because he was always worried someone was going to catch him. One thing that stood out was just how paranoid he was about his own life. If you were caught, you’d be hung the next day. There’s not a lot known about Abe Woodhull. There’s much more written about the other characters, like Ben Tallmadge, who’s incredibly well-documented. If you know about a spy, that’s often because they weren’t very good. The fact that we know next to nothing about Abe says it all. Could you imagine yourself as a spy during those times? No, and that’s why Abe Woodhull as a character is so vulnerable. He’s not ready for this. He’s not James Bond. He’s really afraid. To really walk that line and endanger my family -– I don’t think I could handle those pressures.

Did you watch any other series or movies set during the Revolution to prepare for your role?

I watched John Adams almost every day. That show really focuses on the politics of the time. There are some great speeches in there and some great moments to remember what it is these people are fighting for. Do you think there are any similarities between you and Abe? Well, he’s also a father and he thinks a lot about his son’s future. He has very broad ideas about politics and life and right and wrong. I think, in some ways, he’s a dreamer. You’ve said in the past you prefer not to watch your own work. Did you find you needed to make an exception withTurn to get reacquainted with Abe before filming the new season? I definitely refreshed myself. I went back and watched the pilot a lot because it sets the tone of the show. I often go back to it as the blueprint for the character. There’s also a lot of focus on other characters this year. Benedict Arnold is introduced, and there’s a lot more focus on people like General Washington and Captain Simcoe. It’s a lot more of an ensemble piece. What I’m looking forward to is watching other people’s work that I don’t get to see on set.

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