Sparks fly and secrets unravel in jet-setting spy thriller ‘Liaison’

As multiple European nations face cybersecurity threats, former lovers find themselves caught in a cat-and-mouse race against time.

Vincent Cassel and Eva Green star in 'Liaison'. Credit: Ringside Studios / Leonis Productions

When a national disaster brings the lover you haven’t seen for 20 years back into your life – and things didn’t end well back then – there’s going to be tension. But for Alison Rowdy (played by BAFTA Award winner Eva Green), that’s only one of her problems in this high-octane international thriller written by leading French novelist and screenwriter Virginie Brac.

When a series of suspected cyber attacks target London, causing floods in the city, Rowdy, private secretary to the Minister for Security at the Home Office, is leading the government’s response when another attack hits the rail network. Gabriel Delage (César Award winner Vincent Cassel), an operative hired by a French company to locate two Syrian hackers and retrieve the vital information they hold, becomes a suspect. He’s also Rowdy’s former lover, a relationship that ended badly, so when the pair get thrown together in a race against time to prevent a bigger catastrophe, there’s a lot for them both to deal with.

Cassel relished playing this multi-faceted role which sees him speaking four different languages — French, English, Arabic and Russian — and required him to be in peak physical condition for the many demanding action scenes. The actor also loved exploring the nuanced romantic relationship between Gabriel and Alison. “These two really loved each other at some point in their life,” he explains. “And as we know, when you really fall in love with somebody, you never forget them. They had to be separated for dramatic reasons that you’re going to discover in the series, but life puts them together again for another reason and maybe they will have to finally deal with the past.” Cassel had also hoped to work with Eva for many years. “She has a mystery about her, a great sense of humour and she is very adaptable,” he says of the many reasons he admires his co-star.

Green describes her character as “enigmatic and complex, smooth and strong on the surface but tormented and haunted by her past.” She says, “She is dedicated and married to her job. I loved her sense of guilt. Like Lady Macbeth she wants to bury it constantly, but it keeps popping back. It was that struggle that was very appealing to me.”

Eva Green as Alison Rowdy. Credit: Abbie Parr / Courtesy of Apple

And like Cassel, the impossible love story was also something the actress was drawn to. “I think the most exciting love stories are always tragic,” Green observes. “She is torn between two men. She clearly enjoyed the danger and excitement of her relationship with Gabriel but is now content in settling down with Albert who is safe and steady. Gabriel’s reappearance in her life turns her world upside down and forces her to confront demons and guilt from her past that have long been buried in her mind.”

Portraying Alison’s partner, Albert Onwori — the strait-laced human rights lawyer with high moral standards — is Daniel Francis. “Albert’s allegiances get tested and torn throughout the story,” he explains. “He feels he and Alison have a deep understanding of each other but suddenly their lives are thrown into upheaval when Gabriel re-enters from her past.” Describing the series as “sexy, gritty, fast-paced and sophisticated,” the actor says he was most drawn to the story’s timely subject matter. "I think the whole story feels very relevant with all that we are dealing with in the world and the fact that the hot topics of security and cyber-security are the biggest threats to us today.”

Liaison came to be after longtime producing collaborators Jean-Benoît Gillig from Leonis Productions and Gub Neal from Ringside Studios discovered they were both separately exploring similar dramatic concepts around the tensions that were arising out of the UK’s exit from the European Union. “We thought it would be fun to explore a story around two characters who had a relationship a long time ago which gets reawakened at this tumultuous time when the UK is undergoing a divorce from Europe,” explains Neal.

With that as a springboard, and with Brac on board as writer, what developed was a story that sees the action roam from the Élysée Palace in Paris and the Home Office in London to Brussels’ European Quarter, the ravaged suburbs of Damascus and a refugee camp in Belgium.

Former soldier turned mercenary Gabriel Delage (Vincent Cassel). Credit: Ringside Studios / Leonis Productions

The task of uniting multiple storylines and locations was placed in the hands of Emmy Award-winning director Stephen Hopkins.

“It’s a tragic love story about two very complicated people and a story of espionage based on truth,” the director notes. “It’s also highly contemporary as it is about what is happening in Europe right now. There is suspense, a complicated whodunnit of a story to uncover, as well as many secrets. I discovered during the project how dangerous cyber security and hacking has become all over the world and this is the story we are telling — a story that can really happen.

“The casting of these two actors was a very strong reason as to why I wanted to get involved,” he says. “They had never worked together before but it turned out their parents had once performed in a play together in London. I found them both wildly intelligent, mischievous and funny. They both brought a lot of power and eroticism — as well as humour — to the show.”

Eva Green and Vincent Cassel in 'Liaison'. Credit: Chris Baker / Courtesy of Apple

The cast also includes veteran Scottish actor-director-writer Peter Mullan (My Name is Joe, The Magdalene Sisters) as Minister of Security Richard Banks, leading French actor Gerard Lanvin as Gerard Dumas, the head of a private security company, and Irène Jacob as Sophie Saint Roch, the director of the DGSE, France’s secret service.

Jacob says she loved working with Hopkins to bring this character to life. “Stephen is very friendly and relaxed, confident and energetic. He is also very playful in orchestrating the discord between characters in scenes in which we do not want the same things.” Like her co-stars, Jacob enjoyed working with both a French and UK crew, in both languages. “We all want to create bonds, tell stories together, connect and communicate with each other,” she says. “The language, the people, the cultures all really worked well together on the production.”

Neal describes the series as “Sexy and engaging … a blend of the thriller genre with dark, romantic elements.” Liaison reflects just how real the threat of cyber warfare is today, and the power wielded by huge corporate giants, but at the heart is the story of two people finding out if they can trust each other and dealing with the secrets of the past."

And if it sounds like Delage, as a former government agent and solider turned mercenary, would be the one with all the secrets, think again. He might actually have a clearer conscience than Rowdy. Liaison is a series with plenty of surprises in store!

Liaison premieres Sunday 23 November on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand. Episodes air weekly at SBS VICELAND starting with a double-episode premiere Sunday 23 November at 9.30pm. All episodes will be available to stream on SBS On Demand from 9.30pm on Sunday 23 November.