‘CIA’: Natalee Linez Talks Gina’s Undercover Op and What Could Be Next for Her (Exclusive)

Tonight’s new CIA saw Gina going undercover, and Natalee Linez spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Orbital,” Colin and Bill brought Linez’s Gina undercover after a satellite containing nuclear material disappeared.

She had to help them recruit a retired arms dealer, played by Donal Logue, to help track it down. This led to her putting on quite the act more than once, and for an analyst, Gina certainly held her own. Things did get intense at one point, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Take a look at what Linez had to say. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: What was it like getting to see [Gina] go undercover and get more field experience?

Natalee Linez: Oh my gosh. I mean, when I read the script, as I was reading it, I was just like, “Oh my god. And she does it again, and she does it again.” So it was really exciting as I was reading it to know that I was gonna be able to play so much in this episode. And then we had so many incredible guest stars, which I thought was so lucky that I got to work with just some big-time vets. And Gina does a really good job. She’s under a lot of pressure. It’s a really big case. And she ends up coming out the other side, and no one on her team dies. So that’s always a success. So I think she’ll be jonesing for the next one for sure.

PC: In the episode, Colin is the one who suggests to bring Gina on the undercover op since she has knowledge on missiles and the like. I wish that we had seen her reaction when she was told about it. How do you think she reacted to the news, especially since she had waited so long?

Linez: I think that’s such a good point that you bring up. I mean, we’ve seen her throughout the season kind of pipe up when there was maybe an opportunity for her to go on the field. But I think what she probably did was there was eagerness to it that I think Colin and Nikki know and could see, but she probably tried to hide it. They’re like, “Hey. You’re going out.” Colin’s like, “You’re coming with me, kid. Get in the car.” And she was probably just playing it up like, “Me? Yeah. No. Let me just grab my bag right here. Oh, I already have it. Great. I’m in the car already.” Because I think that she didn’t wanna act too excited.

PC: As you were saying, she handles herself pretty well. She does really well undercover, albeit a little bit too excited since she has waited a while. But she is acting her butt off and getting important information. What was your favorite part about the storyline aside from seeing her out in the field?

Linez: There were so many. I think acting as Jonah was really cool because she’s like, “They don’t know if Jonah’s a guy, a girl, who they are.” So it was really fun. You have to be really confident to say that, knowing that this guy could be like, “No. You’re absolutely not. I know exactly who Jonah is.” You have to just keep playing into the lie of the fact that “No. I am.” So I feel like that says a lot about her and her character and how confident she really is in her abilities to be undercover because you have to really sell it.

PC: Gina doesn’t really get to interact with other characters one-on-one very often because everyone’s always crowding around her whenever they need something. So it was really fun to see her and Colin working together a lot. What was it like playing off that dynamic with Tom [Ellis]?

Linez: You’re so right. That’s such a good way to put it. Usually, it’s her and the computer, and then people are around her and behind her. And then she’s getting information and maybe looking back. So I loved acting with Tom, and I love playing Gina and Colin’s dynamic. And I think it’s very clear that there is a brother-sister energy and a mentor-mentee energy and that he really believes in her, and she knows that.

So there’s part of her that wants to be his equal, but he’s many years older and many years rather older, experienced. So she also knows that they’re not gonna be equals, and that’s okay. But she wants to work her way up there, and I think she will make her whole team very proud. But it was really fun to see her step up to the plate and let Colin know that “I’m not your old partner. I know what I’m doing. Please let me show you that I know what I’m doing. Let me impress you.” So that was fun to see her kind of step up to him in that way.

PC: Gina seems to be doing a pretty good job keeping her cover, pretending to be Jonah, until it’s found out that they know that she’s not who she says she is. And she has to go along with the Russians, along with the nuke that is leaking. But luckily, she’s saved before it’s too late. What do you think was going through her mind during that entire situation?

Linez: I think she might have lost her footing a little bit. I think she would have done everything that she could to not go inside that car, because out of everyone there, including the Russians, I think she knows that device better than anyone does, I feel like it’s part of maybe one of her expertises. So I think when it’s that dire, and the stakes are that high, you’re really trying to not go toward death.

I think at that moment, she was probably, in the back of her mind, thinking that maybe Colin or Bill… I mean, Bill, I don’t know. She probably thought Bill was also dead. Did he get rescued? She doesn’t know any of that. I know that she thought Colin was probably working his hardest to try to save her, but the reality of where he was, I don’t think, was in her mind. I think her mind was like, “How can I not get in the car with this weapon?” And then I think creative ideas of distraction were going through. I’m like, “How can I continue to distract these people and stall?”

PC: Even despite what happened, she handled herself really well. If and when she gets assigned another undercover op, what would you wanna see from that?

Linez: Oh, I love this. It was my original dream to do, like, a honey trap situation, which they kind of put in this episode. So that was really cool to kind of have that wish and then see it played out. I think it would be really cool to do something a little more physical in another op where she has to show some skills of I don’t know yet. But something to do with some physical. I know that she works out, maybe some martial arts or something like that would be really, really cool.

PC: What else can you tease to the fans for the rest of the season?

Linez: I think you guys just aren’t gonna be ready for some gobsmacking, jaw-dropping twists that are about to happen in these next few episodes.

New episodes of CIA air on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.