As an American, he’s a ‘Company’ man
Watching a bravura Alfred Molina performance is a delight, whether it’s over-the-top villain Doc Ock in “Spider-Man 2” or artistic giant Diego Rivera in “Frida.”
But Molina doesn’t need an outsized role to impress; he invariably finds something fresh and compelling in every character.
Case in point: TNT’s miniseries “The Company,” a recounting of the Cold War from the vantage point of CIA and KGB spies, airing over three consecutive Sundays starting tonight at 8.
Molina plays U.S. espionage master Harvey Torriti, code-named The Sorcerer, who serves as mentor to an idealistic young recruit.
The miniseries, based on Robert Littell‘s historical novel, tracks the agents from the beginnings of the epic U.S.-U.S.S.R. struggle through the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The character of Torriti, the first spy Molina has played, appealed to him on several levels.
“I’m 54 now, and I’m sort of at that age when actors start moving into a different generation of roles. I’m now playing fathers and uncles and bosses and the leading man’s employer,” he says.
“I didn’t want to be one of those actors hanging on to some kind of self-image: ‘I want to be the snarling, sexy bad guy.’
“This role seemed to speak to me in terms of my own age, how I looked and, without sounding self-aggrandizing, my intelligence. It sounded like an interesting character, full of ambivalence and contradictions, and those are always the best to play.”
Molina brought his own Cold War-era memories to “The Company,” including a vivid one from his childhood in England about America’s failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
“I remember rushing into school, terribly excited, and saying, ‘Sir, sir, is there going to be a war?’ Not thinking about the consequences but just terribly excited about the idea, like a 10-year-old would be,” he says.
Molina grew up in a political household. His father was a refugee from the Spanish Civil War, where he had fought against the Nationalists who were supported by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, and was a staunch communist.
“I remember my father having rather serious, heated discussions with his brother … and saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ and being told, ‘Shush, this is grown-up talk.’ “
Molina’s father and Italian-born mother settled comfortably into English life. But he has found America to be a better fit, personally and professionally.
He and wife Jill Gascoine have lived here for 14 years, and he’s become an American citizen.
He’s even gotten to play Englishmen – something denied him in his native country, where ethnic background is more of a concern.
“It all fell into place here,” Molina says.
The birthday bunch
Country singer Vern Gosdin is 73. Actress Erika Slezak (“One Life To Live”) is 61. Actress Loni Anderson is 61. Singer Rick Derringer is 60. Actress Maureen McCormick (“The Brady Bunch”) is 51. Actress Tawny Kitaen is 46. Fiddler Mark O’Connor is 46. Rapper Adam Yauch (MCA, the Beastie Boys) is 43. Actor Jonathan Silverman is 41. Country singer Terri Clark is 39.