As part of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association weekend, Deadline gathered the creator and cast of Netflix‘s The Diplomat for an event hosted by the Irish ambassador to the United States, Geraldine Byrne Nason.
Stars Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell, creator Debora Cahn and Nason sat down for a panel with Deadline’s Ted Johnson, before guests who included Samantha Power, Anthony Fauci and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
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When asked about the real-life similarities of her life to the show, the Irish Ambassador quipped, “Some things I haven’t seen were the kind of skinny dipping.”
“Don’t limit yourself. It may still come to pass,” Russell responded.
There are many other similarities, Nason said.
“There is very little that we would ever say is fair in love or war, or politics or diplomacy,” she said. “But I think what we as diplomats, our trade, is to interpret a political guidance at the top level.”
The series recently wrapped up Season 2.
Cahn was inspired for the show in part after speaking to Beth Jones, a longtime diplomat in the State Department. “I have now talked to about 60 ambassadors and a lot happened,” she said. “You know things blow up.”
She added, “The dynamics of marrying foreign policy stories with high-octane thriller playing out with a lovely woman in pantsuit, it seemed like a no-brainer.”
Russell said, “the minutiae of it all, the hard work of it all. All that stuff is what makes it interesting for a TV show because it hasn’t been told before.”
Sewell said, “The tone for me is the speed with which it goes between serious to maybe absurd and comedy and keeps the same level of reality and truthfulness.”
Check back later for the full panel video.
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