Currently airing on Mondays on NBC at 10pm after “The Voice” is their drama series, “The Enemy Within,” starring Morris Chestnut (“Rosewood,” “Goliath.”) and Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”).
In this character-based psychological thriller, Erica Shepherd (Jennifer Carpenter), a brilliant former CIA operative now known as one of the most notorious traitors in recent American history, is serving life in a Supermax prison. Against every fiber of his being, but with nowhere else to turn, FBI agent Will Keaton (Morris Chestnut) enlists Shepherd to help track down a fiercely dangerous and elusive criminal she knows all too well. While Shepherd and Keaton have different motivations for bringing the enemy to justice, they both know that to catch a spy… they must think like one.
Blackfilm.com recently sat down with Chestnut and Cassandra Freeman, who plays Jaqueline Pettigrew, the newest member of Keaton’s FBI team and is very good at her job. Together, they spoke about the action scenes and element of surprises the show has week after week.
How much involvement is there when there’s action scenes with your characters?
Morris Chestnut: That was the tough part about this show because the schedule is so tough and we were working so much, it’s not easy scheduling rehearsal time. A couple of time we tried rehearsals for the stunts prior to shooting that episode but it never worked out that way.
Cassandra Freeman: I don’t really believe in stunts. There’s an episode where I’m an under the car and trying to undo the thing and I was done. You start thinking, “What if the tire goes out?”
Morris Chestnut: Do you want to tell the story about the pilot episode?
Cassandra Freeman: Well, I never told this story but if you have seen the show, my character appears in the third episode. That’s because I was originally in the first episode, the pilot, but on the first day of shooting, I was seven months pregnant when I showed up. What a blessing. They were like, “Don’t worry. You don’t have any crazy stunts. We have a stunt double here. All you have to do is walk down the hallway and turn into the elevator.” So I have the gun and the flashlight, and literally on action, it was me, Morris and Raza. We walk down the hallway and when I turned to hallway, I broke all three bones in my ankle.
Morris Chestnut: While she was pregnant!
Cassandra Freeman: I remember the director saying, “I’m sure you can walk it off.” I have never broken a bone in my body. So, I had to sit out the first few episodes, and had to have surgery. The producers on the show were wonderful and checked on me constantly. They had a replacement for me, but by episode 3 I was back in.
Every week, there’s no certainly which character is going to make it to the next episode…
Morris Chestnut: I like that element of the show, especially with the character Anna Cruz. When she got killed, no one really saw it coming. I like that part of the show because it keeps the element of surprise there. It also keeps the audience on their toes as to you never know what’s going to happen and who’s going to go.
Cassandra Freeman: What’s special about the show is that you care about people. When Anna was killed, I was surprised but my girlfriend was like, “Well, that’s the show.” You also get to see the emotional pain that Morris’ character has to go through week after week.
Between the films and TV shows you’ve done, have you shown all of your acting ranges?
Morris Chestnut: People ask me that question in a different form and my answer to that is that I go back to when I was starting out. A lot of times we forget where we come from and where we were at a certain point in our lives and careers. There was a point when I got an agent and all I wanted was a job. You would take anything. Then all of a sudden you get a job and then they keep hiring you as this, because sometimes that’s how they see you. I don’t mind being typecast. Do you have other ranges and more depth? I do. Do I get the opportunity to play them? Not necessarily. This show is a departure from what I normally play. I’m just blessed to still be here and be able to enjoy going to work and working with people inside and out.
Is the goal of the series to catch Tal or will this plotline be solved at the end of the season?
Morris Chestnut: I think the goal of every television show is to go on for multiple seasons.
Cassandra Freeman: Even in politics, the New York Times sells newspapers because there’s always a new story breaking. For now, it’s Tal. For every terrorist that gets caught or killed, two more heads pop up. Who knows how long Tal will keep going, but even if Tal disappears, I don’t think the whole world will be safe because there’s always more danger.
How much research did you do to know the difference between the FBI and CIA?
Morris Chestnut: That is true. There is real tension between both agencies on the show. There is an FBI consultant on the show who was there during the pilot and we exchanged phone numbers. The writers do a ton a research so if I have a question, I just call one of them.
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