Dermot Mulroney Talks New Political Action-Thriller ‘Agent Game’ (Exclusive)

Dermot Mulroney is no stranger to action-packed movie roles and now the actor is starring in a new political thriller, Agent Game, that sees him on the trail of a massive terrorist plot. In the film, Mulroney plays Harris, a black-ops specialist who is tasked with getting information out of Barkhad Abdi’s character Omar. In addition to Mulroney and Abdi, Agent Game also stars Mel Gibson, Jason Isaacs, Adan Canto, Katie Cassidy, Annie Ilonzeh, and Rhys Coiro.

When it comes to the term “political thriller,” Mulroney says this is a “fair” way to describe the film. “It’s not very discreetly buried, in there, that all of us think that it’s terrible, what the sort of conspiratorial intelligence services can get away with if they’re not looked after,” he told PopCulture.com exclusively. “We know that in real life, and we know a version of it in the movie. We’re speaking a language we all know. We’re not pretending that we’re in favor of how my character’s treating Barkhad Abdi’s character.”

He later elaborated on the plot of Agent Game. “Maybe, there’s a bigger agency entity above me who has mixed motives. The simple, violent interrogation may be a deeper conspiracy than you suspect, at first,” he said. Being careful not to give too much away, Mulroney explained how it “touches into the world of terrorism, and how people can just be tagged for that without good evidence, just because of their culture, or their skin color, or anything else.” He continued: “Then there’s a bunch of crazy action [and ] we do have it resting on a pretty righteous foundation.”

Praising the creative team behind Agent Game, Mulroney gushed, “I knew I was in good hands with the writer on the set, Tyler Konney, and also, he’s the producer, as well. Grant S. Johnson, the young director who is helming the picture, really had it all nailed down. Sometimes you just kind of leave it in the hands of the person who does get it rather than… Then it lightens my load, not to have an easier job, but just so that I can focus on being in it, rather than analyzing it, while I’m doing it. Right?”

Mulroney continued, “I’m not trying to think, ‘What’s this mean to the story here’” I’m just trying to focus on that scene, that moment, in real-life time. That is to say, it is because Harris, the character I play, is being seen from two sides. He’s playing two sides. You see him in at least two, perhaps three, slightly different timeframes. All of that is meant to keep you guessing. Then you’ll see that he was really right about being wrong, while he was really good at being bad.”

Without spoiling anything, Agent Game leaves the door open for a possible sequel, which Mulroney says would “be amazing” if it comes to fruition. “Especially for the rest of the crew, some who make it through. Katie Cassidy, Adan Canto, and Rhys Coiro are that triple threat that really runs the narrative of the film, and [are] great in their parts, in the way that they play out toward the end, too.”

He concluded, “It’s one of these really satisfying thrillers where there’s a bunch of storylines, then they cut back in time. You’re a little confounded, and then it all comes crashing together at the end. You even have one of those after the credits type of things, I think, or at least, a good tail end twist, at the end of this movie, too. Agent Game is now available to rent or buy at most digital retail sites, such as Amazon Prime Video.