In 2003, Valerie Plame looked the part of any successful working mother.  She ran a household, reared a set of twins, and had a typical office job. Or so it would seem. In reality, she was a covert CIA operative who was in charge of various operations overseas.

After years of cultivating contacts and relationships, her entire life was exposed when Washington Post scribe Robert Novak outed her as a CIA operative in an article in the publication. The incident was thought to be a retaliatory action against her family after her husband, ex-diplomat Joe Wilson,  wrote a series of scathing op-ed pieces indicting the Bush administration and their assertion that Iraq had acquired uranium from Niger. Wilson maintained that the administration was manipulating the evidence to justify the Iraq invasion.

Ultimately, White House aide Scooter Libby was revealed as the source for Novak’s piece. He was tried and found guilty of obstruction of justice, making false statements, and perjury.  His sentence was commuted by George Bush in 2007.

Fair Game brings to life a fictionalized account of the story behind the story.  If you are a newshound, you already know the details of the case, but what the movie does a great job of is illuminating the far reaching consequences of the administration’s decision to out her.

It wasn’t just Plame and her family who suffered, the administration has the blood of foreigners on their hands as well.  Many of Plame’s contacts suffered or died as a direct result of her being outed.  That makes the whole ugly mess more difficult to swallow.

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Several outlets are reporting today that director Doug Liman will be directing the adaptation of a popular Japanese anime novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

All You Need Is Kill was released in the states last year, and is about an alien invasion in which the protagonist sets off to battle, and dies.

He is reborn every morning to fight another day, only to perish again.  A female soldier named Bitch of War makes an appearance as well. The book is referred to as being video-game inspired.

Chances are, you are familiar with Liman’s work. He has directed Swingers, The Bourne Identity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

His latest movie Fair Game stars Naomi Watts and Sean Penn and will be hitting theaters November 19.  The movie tells the politically charged story about Valerie Plame who was outed by the White House staff as being a CIA operative.

So far, Liman has been able to smoothly transition from one genre to another, which makes us excited to see what he can do with this.

Remember Valerie Plame?  She was the CIA agent who was outed by White House Staffers when her husband wrote an op-ed for the New York Times that condemned the Bush administration for fabricating intelligence that led us into the Iraq war.

In the upcoming movie Fair Game, Plame is played by Aussie actress Naomi Watts. Her husband, Joe Wilson, is played by Sean Penn. The film is directed by Doug Liman, who previously directed The Bourne Identity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, so he obviously knows his way around a spy thriller.

If I might editorialize briefly, what do you think of casting Sean Penn in a politically charged role?  He did star in Milk, but he has been so outspoken about the Iraq war that it seems a little off-putting to me. He is a wonderful actor, and Watts is always solid, so I am sure the movie will be intriguing.

You can catch the trailer after the jump. Fair Game opens in theaters November 5.

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Watch any regular television show these days and you’ll probably find the sets become as important as the characters themselves.  There’s comfort in knowing you’ll be returning to a familiar place from week-to-week.  Covert Affairs is no different and has crafted a number of unique locales viewers will certainly enjoy seeing each week.

Whether it’s something as innocent as Annie Walker’s (Piper Perabo) bedroom or the technology laden operations center of the Domestic Protection Division (DPD) the attention to detail is nothing short of spectacular.  While the sets we walked through are different from the locations used in the pilot episode, the modifications and “upgrades” are impressive.  Did I mention how awesome the DPD set is?  Even if I did let me say again, it’s awesome!

There doesn’t seem to be much to it all looking from the outside in.  I whole lot of wooden beams and plastic backdrops beneath dozens of lights where a ceiling should be.  Turn a corner, however, and you suddenly find yourself walking through the foyer of the Central Intelligence Agency.  It’s quite an experience and credit has to be given to the set designers and trades people that put these sets together.

On a side note, while they were not available the day of our visit I wanted to mention some of the other great actors that round out the Covert Affairs cast: Peter Gallagher (Californication, The O.C.), Kari Matchett (Leverage, Criminal Minds) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) all bring great talent to this new series.

So, in conclusion to our coverage of Covert Affairs here are some pictures of the sets after the jump you’re sure to enjoy when the series premiers.  Also, thanks to NBC, USA Network, New Media Strategies, and the cast and crew of Covert Affairs for making our visit possible.  We look forward to the premiere Tuesday, July 13.  Make sure to check it out!

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During The Flickcast’s set visit to USA Network’s new series Covert Affairs we spoke with Executive Producer Doug Liman about the origins of the show.  Following that we had the opportunity to speak with three of the show’s regulars, Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island), Anne Dudek (House, Mad Men) and Piper Perabo (The Prestige, Coyote Ugly).  All the interviews took place on the Covert Affairs sets in Toronto, Canada.

One thing every good television show needs is a lead character that can be relatable to viewers yet embrace the hyper-real world of fiction.  Piper Perabo, as Annie Walker, on Covert Affairs blends these two elements seamlessly.  While thoroughly convincing as a rookie CIA Officer she’s equally well-rounded as a down-to-Earth friend to Christopher Gorham’s Auggie and sister to Anne Dudek’s Danielle.  In short, Perabo effortlessly draws the audience into her world of intrigue, action and drama on Covert Affairs.

As easy as Perabo makes her performance on the series look there is a significant amount of reality behind the character of Annie Walker.  While the scripts themselves carry with them a healthy dose of real world exposition, Perabo was fortunate enough to actually do her own research for the role at the Central Intelligence Agency itself in Langley, Virginia.

Interestingly enough, it was the day-to-day details of the people that worked for the CIA that became more relevant than work specifics as Perabo explained:

“…I went and I met agents who are my age who work in the field, women, and got to talk to them.  Not just about—the funny thing is the things that they can’t talk about aren’t really the things that I, you know, I don’t need to know where your stationed or what you’re doing.  But my questions were more like, ‘What kind of car do you drive?  Does your boyfriend know what you do? Do your parents?’

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During The Flickcast’s set visit to USA Network’s new series Covert Affairs we spoke with Executive Producer Doug Liman about the origins of the show. Following that we had the opportunity to speak with three of the show’s regulars, Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island), Anne Dudek (House, Mad Men) and Piper Perabo (The Prestige, Coyote Ugly).  All the interviews took place on the Covert Affairs sets in Toronto, Canada.

Playing to the extreme opposite of Christopher Gorham’s CIA Officer, Auggie Anderson, is Anne Dudek as Danielle.  Older sister to Piper Perabo’s lead character of Annie Walker, Dudek balances the intense CIA action with a life in which the biggest challenge is getting her kids to school on time.

Don’t let the pedestrian existence of domestic bliss fool you, Dudek explains the critical part she plays in the world of Covert Affairs:

“I mean you know the sisterly relationship that, it’s a little more than that because Danielle sort of feels motherly in a way that’s a little inappropriate towards Annie.

But then also, Annie really needs Danielle and they really do need each other.  And so I think it’s sort of like well, there’s this huge lie in the middle of this really vital relationship.

And what would happen if that really came out?  But everything Danielle knows about her sister is like a complete lie and that’s what’s being built is this web of lies.  And so it is a support system that if it breaks down, I mean, it’s going to be really, really bad news.”

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During The Flickcast’s set visit to USA Network’s new series Covert Affairs we spoke with Exec. Producer Doug Liman about the origins of the show.  Following that we had the opportunity to speak with three of the show’s regulars, Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island), Anne Dudek (House, Mad Men) and Piper Perabo (The Prestige, Coyote Ugly).  All the interviews took place on the Covert Affairs sets in Toronto, Canada.

Christopher Gorham plays Auggie Anderson on Covert Affairs.  The resident technology expert, the role lends itself to being the bridge between the audience and how the tech on the show works.  Based on this, one would think Gorham was a natural geek, but according to him that’s not the case:

The Flickcast: Being surrounded by that, being that kind of character on the show, how well versed are you in technology?  Like, are you anywhere near what Auggie is, or are you-

Chris Gorham: Nowhere-first of all, nowhere near.

TF: No?

CG: Second of all, nowhere near what I wish I knew.  Thirdly, nowhere near where I need to be, because my kids are getting older quick.

One would think getting your head around hi-tech gadgets would be a challenge but that pales in comparison to one important element of Gorham’s character-the fact that he’s blind.  In preparation for the role Gorham worked extensively with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB):

“I was working on a film in Michigan right before the pilot, and literally came straight here from there. So I hadn’t had any time at home to really do the research that I would normally do. So I called ahead and found the – well, I found the CNIB on the Internet, and called ahead to the production office and asked them if they could hook me up with somebody over there.

And they did – a lovely woman named Leslie McDonald who came out. And we had two sessions during the pilot, where the first one she came out and just went over things like sighted lead, and working with the cane, and a lot of just behavioural things about how to get around.”

Having seen a number of actors take on roles in which they portray blind characters I can tell you Gorham is exceptional.  Be that as it may, Gorham is quick to emphasise that while Auggie is blind that does not diminish him in contrast to other characters:

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USA Networks’ new series Covert Affairs doesn’t premiere until July 13, but The Flickcast was invited to Toronto to check out the set and talk to some of the cast.  There’s too much content to put in one post so we thought it was best to break this up over several articles.  Getting things started is this interview with Covert Affairs Executive Producer Doug Liman.

Even if you haven’t heard of Liman but are into the spy genre there’s a high probability you’ve seen one of his films.  Liman directed the first of the Bourne trilogy films and produced the other two.  He also produced Mr. and Mrs. Smith and is currently working on Fair Game; the true story of CIA spy Valerie Plame Wilson whose identity was revealed by the White House to allegedly discredit her husband.

With all that on Liman’s film resume it’s no surprise he was drawn to a TV series about spies.  Ultimately, however, it was working on Fair Game that became the driving force behind Covert Affairs. According to Liman:

“…in doing the research for Fair Game, we got access to a lot of current and former covert officers with the CIA. And most of the material that we were learning about had no place in the movie, unless I wanted the movie to be 10 hours long. And so we had this huge treasure trove of just sort of cool factoids.

And you know, that stuff is, you know, it was just like the perfect timing to be developing a TV show in the same arena at the same time, because we’ve just taken all the research that, you know, wasn’t appropriate for Fair Game and just channeled it right into Covert Affairs.”

While at their core Covert Affairs and Fair Game are about the CIA both spin the material in completely different directions. While Covert Affairs plays to the strengths of the CIA and what they do to protect the nation, Fair Game definitely represents the Agency in a moment of weakness.

This distinction was not lost on Liman as he explained the differences:

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