Season 3 of Netflix’s The Diplomat is out now, and like previous seasons, fans should expect to see a whole lot of twists, turns and surprises. And at least one of the show’s actors likes to experience those, as well.
Rufus Sewell plays Hal Wyler, husband of Keri Russell’s U.K. ambassador Kate Wyler. He tells ABC Audio that when it comes to the scripts, he prefers to stay in the dark as much as possible.
“What I always ask is, if it’s something that Hal would know, then I wanna know it to the best that they can do,” he says. “Otherwise, I like to be surprised along with everyone else. I mean, not at the same time, obviously. I don’t wanna wait until it comes out.”
But once he knows what’s going to happen, Sewell says it’s “surprisingly easy” for him not to spill any secrets.
“Unfortunately, it’s also surprisingly easy for me not to remember the things I’m supposed to remember,” he adds.
While viewers may sometimes question Hal’s motives, Sewell has no doubt his character is “100 percent behind” Kate, but notes he’s also “100 percent behind himself, too.”
“I enjoy and relish his faults and his blind spots,” he says. “But I won’t accept other people’s descriptions of his blind spots that I do not think are true.”
This season, The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford joins the cast as the husband of now-President Grace Penn, played by his former West Wing castmate Allison Janney.
Sewell says series creator Debora Cahn has been smart to not “lean into” their past too much, while still giving fans that nostalgic feeling.
“I think the characters are so distinct … they’re not the same characters,” he says. “But we do get [the] benefit of that kind of inner warmth.”
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