Logic would dictate that an actor who has made a name for himself by slipping in-and-out of roles for the better part of three decades would be able to appreciate the chameleon-like qualities of Nikita. Unfortunately, in his latest job that has him playing duplicitous Division head Percy, renowned character actor Xander Berkeley’s one-and-only-job is to put a bullet into those chameleon-like qualities (Literally!) So how’s it going so far, what exactly does the future hold for the riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma and whose team should NIKITA fans really be rooting for? We caught up with Xander Berkeley earlier in the week to find out just that.
Having played a multitude of government baddies, were you at all hesitant to sign onto NIKITA?
Xander Berkeley: One might say hesitancy is a recurring motif in my career, followed by grateful reconsiderations. I try not to repeat myself and with 24, I had just done Air Force One not to long before that and it felt like the turncoat sort of agent that they were playing on was something I had done before and I always like to sabotage my career as much as possible by flying under the radar and doing things people haven’t seen me do before! That said, I’m so grateful I reconsidered because they ended up really turning the character [of George Mason] into something and the show was just spectacular, changed my life. I met my wife [Sarah Clarke] through the show and I can’t imagine having said no. Same things with NIKITA. The show had been done before so I think I may have had some ideas about, “Gee is an audience going to want to see this show again,” they did it well before and I felt like there was enough similar to my character to my character in 24 that I was worried about repeating myself. But I read the script, met the people involved and changed my mind because I thought they had great ideas and I loved the writing and the whole direction and again I’m so grateful that I saw the light.