“The Night Agent” exploded onto Netflix in March 2023, riding the muscled shoulders (and T-shirt-expanding biceps) of the spy thriller series’ earnest and indefatigably energetic hero, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso).
The story of the FBI newbie tasked with monitoring the late-night desk in the White House basement — who jumps into nation-saving, unrelenting action when the phone finally rings — spent 13 weeks in the streaming giant’s global Top 10 and ranks as Netflix’s No. 7 TV show, with 134 million views and counting.
Still, the intense Basso, 30, insists the career-changing performance has not altered his existence with his growing —but perhaps reticent — fan base as Season 2 kicks off (now streaming).
“I get stopped by people, but I don’t have a come-talk-to-me disposition,” Basso says. “There’s a little bit of hesitancy to approach. But I am friendly. I’m not a murderer. Especially when you’re paying me a compliment.”
When does ‘The Night Agent’ come out?How to watch Season 2 of Netflix’s action thriller
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
There is much to laud about Basso’s power performance. Creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan, who has made a career with action series like CBS’ “S.W.A.T.” and FX’s “The Shield,” calls Basso “the best, most adroit stunt actor I’ve ever worked with.
“He’s really doing so many of the fights that you can show it’s him clearly to the audience,” says Ryan, who adapted the series from Matthew Quirk’s 2019 best-selling novel. “But Gabriel is really underrated for playing inner turmoil with his eyes and reaction.”
The turmoil never stops. In Season 1, Peter teamed with tech entrepreneur Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) to unravel a White House terrorist conspiracy, save the president and find love along the way. After a romantic finale farewell, the newly promoted Peter moved from the phone desk to the night agent big leagues.
In Season 2, which picks up about nine months later (or long enough for Peter’s facial injuries to heal), he steps out holding hands with a new wife, Alice (Brittany Snow). But fear not, action romantics. Alice is actually a night agent mentor who’s training Peter in his new counterintelligence job while they pose as a honeymooning couple.
“Oh, the betrayal. It’s funny playing with audience expectations for a bit,” says Basso. “But Alice imparts some wisdom that she’s picked up about having real loved ones in this work. It’s a heavy, bitter realization for Peter.”
When the mission goes awry, and Peter goes on the run, Rose tracks him down to help. “Don’t ever date a hacker. She’ll find you,” says Basso. They work through their own trust issues while battling another government conspiracy and seeking to thwart a terrorist chemical weapons attack.
Where have we seen ‘Night Agent’ Gabriel Basso before?
The hit series has turned a brighter spotlight on the former teen actor, who starred in J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” (2011) and the 2013 coming-of-age drama “The Kings of Summer.” He portrayed a pre-politics JD Vance in the 2020 film adaptation of the vice president’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Between “Night Agent” seasons, Basso grew his beard to play suspected killer James Michael Sythe, who goes on trial in director Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2”. Even in the courtroom drama, Basso showed his gusto for physical realism by incorporating signs of fighting damage for his pugnacious but legally innocent character.
“I was asking for a cauliflower ear. And my beard was way longer originally. I wanted every excuse for people to look at me and be like, ‘He’s a criminal,'” says Basso. “But they had me shave the beard to look more nuanced and relatable.”
The martial arts devotee has real fighting experience. He wowed observers by winning an amateur kickboxing match at a 2023 MMA event, Beaufort Brawl 3. “You wouldn’t think that an actor would want to fight, given that their face is important to them. But I have other skills,” says Basso, who admits to some chipped teeth from blows.
The brawling skills are crucial for the many “Night Agent” fight scenes, which he proudly handles. And the actor can sprint with abandon during the many times Peter is flat-out booking it. “We filmed all those running scenes in one night,” says Basso. “So I was running for my life for hours until 2 in the morning. Just straight sprints.”
The series’ leading man left the falls, down stairs and from a rig alongside a Bangkok building, for his stuntman. But the bungee jumping enthusiast showed he has zero fear of heights by skydiving from a blimp several times. Mind you, the impressive gambit wasn’t for stunning series footage. Basso parachuted over Houston’s NRG stadium to highlight the Season 2 premiere on Netflix’s NFL Christmas games. And then repeated it for kicks.
“That was for promotion, not my show,” says Ryan, who admits the stunt was “pretty great.” Basso shrugs off any concern.
“It feels weird to fear anything above 100 feet, because you’re just gonna die anyway,” says Basso. “You might as well be at 15,000 feet. Knowledge dispels fear. After a couple of jumps, I guarantee it’s no longer this terrifying thing. There’s a lot of stimuli, but it becomes more of an analytical thing. You’re not in the passenger seat. You’re in control of your own life. So don’t be an idiot.”
