Kasey Moore
The Diplomat is coming up soon on Netflix, with filming occurring throughout much of 2022. Here’s the lowdown on everything we know about the TV thriller The Diplomat coming soon to Netflix.
We exclusively first revealed the project on January 20th, 2022, with Netflix officially announcing the series just a week later.
Eight hour-long episodes are expected for the first season of the show. The series is described as a political thriller in the US London Embassy. It’s about a career diplomat landing a new role as the ambassador in London, but that has huge implications for her work and personal life. This is all while an international crisis is unfolding in the background.
The show’s plot has been subject to controversy and buzz amongst U.S. diplomats.
Who’s behind The Diplomat?
Deborah Cahn – Picture: Writers Guild of America
Deborah Cahn will serve as showrunner and creator of the project. In addition, Deborah Cahn is now among the creators who have overall deals with Netflix.
Cahn has been involved in many beloved shows from the last two decades, including the Showtime series Homeland, the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon, and worked on the ABC series Grey’s Anatomy.
British director Simon Cellan Jones is attached to the project. The distinguished director has been involved in several TV projects and movies. On the movie side, he’s notably directed Our Friends in the North and Some Voices. Meanwhile, on the TV side, he was involved with the Apple TV+ series See, HBO’s Ballers, and USA Network’s Shooter.
Sebastian Gibbs is the studio executive at Netflix spearheading the project who previously worked at MRC Television before moving to Netflix in March 2020.
Keri Russell (who also stars), Janice Williams, Jones, and Cahn serve as executive producers.
Who is starring in Netflix’s The Diplomat?
Pictured (L-R): Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, and Ali Ahn
Keri Russell will star as Katie, the ambassador the story revolves around. She becomes the ambassador reluctantly because her heart is in humanitarian work. There are also rumors that she’s being eyed for the role of Vice President.
Russell is perhaps best known for playing Elizabeth Jennings in The Americans in recent years. Beyond that, Russell was featured in Dark Skies, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and 2007’s Waitress.
Rufus Sewell is tapped to play Hal Wyler in the series. Wyler is the husband of Katie and was a former ambassador but is now reduced to being on the sidelines.
The British actor is perhaps best known for 1998’s Dark City and 2006’s The Illusionist. More recently he played Charles in Old for Universal and is also set to star in the Netflix series Jigsaw.
Ali Ahn will play the role of Eidra Graham, the CIA Chief of the Station in London. Described as effective and a realist and manages the sometimes rocky relationship between the CIA and MI6.
Rounding out the cast for the series (most of which are announced in late April 2022) includes:
- Penny Downie (Jackie, Invictus) as Frances Munning
- Rory Kinnear (Black Mirror)
- Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who) as Alysse
- Michael McKean (Better Call Saul)
- Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
- Bijan Daneshmand (House of the Dragon) as Rasoul Shahin
- David Gyasi (Interstellar, Cloud Atlas)
- Reza Diako (Tehran) as Basir
- Nana Mensah
- Jess Chanliau as Ronnie
- Andre Lillis as Wilson
- Ato Essandoh
- Miguel Sandoval
- Christine Prouty as Emma – US Embassy Ambassador
Cast grid for The Diplomat
Where is The Diplomat in production?
Filming began in mid-April 2022 and, according to production schedules seen by What’s on Netflix, was set to conclude in September or October 2022 but almost certainly will run beyond that date.
As the show is set in the United Kingdom, filming is predominantly taking place. It’s unclear whether the show is filming at Netflix’s Shepperton Studios.
One casting call suggests that filming was be taking place into November 2022. In addition, it suggests the series filming will also take place in Île-de-France.
Rufus Sewell shared a couple of pictures while filming for the new Netflix series. The second picture came with the caption: “My new look. Grizzled with a just of dash of claret.”
Behind-the-scenes on The Diplomat – Picture: Instagram/fredriksewell
Finally, we should note that there’s also another series called The Diplomat in development at UKTV.
Are you looking forward to The Diplomat coming soon to Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
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