TV Guide Report from "Covert Affairs" Panel at Comic-Con 2011

[JamesG]

"Covert Affairs": A "Heroes Reunion", Annie's "Crowded" Love Life and a USA Crossover
Jul 22, 2011
by Kate Stanhope


They may play super-secret CIA agents on TV, but when the cast of "Covert Affairs" came to Comic-Con for the first time on Thursday, they let more than a few pieces of intel slip.

Why is Annie's (Piper Perabo) love life about to get "crowded?" (And, more importantly, with whom?)

What does Jai (Sendhil Ramamurthy) have up his sleeve?

And, most pressing, what does Anne Dudek want to do with Christopher Gorham's abs?

Read on for scoop on Season 2:







A "Heroes" reunion and a "Game of Thrones" guest?:

"Heroes" alum Ramamurthy appropriately chose Comic-Con to drop the news that his former co-star Santiago Cabrera will guest-star this season.

"One of my good buddies from 'Heroes' is going to come play with us," he said. "There are some shenanigans with Annie and Santy's character possibly."



Is that why Perabo teased her love life is about to get "crowded?"

Either way, Perabo said she's hoping to get some royalty — aka her Imagine Me and You costar Lena Headey, who plays Queen Cersei on "Games of Thrones" — to appear.

Despite previous failed attempts to organize a cocktail party for the two casts, Perabo is still hopeful. "We'll see what her schedule is like on 'Game of Thrones.'"











The sisters' secret circle:

Looks like producers plan to keep Dudek busy on the series.


Executive producer Matt Corman said fans will see more of Annie and Danielle's background. "Maybe there are some secrets in their past that we'll find out about," he said.

Aside from increasing suspicions about her on-screen sibling, Dudek has another suggestion for what she wants her character to do. "The thing I hope I get to do in the future is be in a scene with Chris Gorham's abs," Dudek joked, eliciting huge cheers from the crowd.











Three's a crowd:

When asked by a fan about the possibility of a crossover between "Covert Affairs" and "Burn Notice", Gorham seemed game for the idea — especially for a shot at working with the series' leading lady.

"Maybe Auggie and Gabrielle Anwar going on a mission? Miami would be a nice place to shoot. I love that show and they have the CIA, so that could work," he said.

However, it was Perabo who really knew how to get fans in a tizzy by suggesting a triple USA series crossover that also included "White Collar".











What's Jai really up to?:

There are a lot of question marks surrounding Jai right now, but Ramamurthy promises all will be revealed ... eventually.

"You're going to see kind of what Jai is made of. You're going to see what happens when he doesn't get what he wants. He's used to getting what he wants," he said.

"He's getting shot down by someone (pointing to co-star Kari Matchett) and it all kind of comes to a head at the end of the summer season. It will become very apparent what Jai is up to in the first episode of the winter season."











No simple solution:

"Covert Affairs" and Gorham have earned praise for how Auggie's blindness is portrayed. Corman said the decision to make the character blind was inspired by a college friend who suffered a life-altering accident.

"We thought it would be interesting to write a character that has gone through something like this, but you don't feel sorry for him," Corman said.

When later asked whether the show might ever "fix" Auggie, Gorham avoided the question. "Are you talking about, like castration? I hope not," he said with a laugh.



Added executive producer Chris Ord:

"We won't fix his eyesight. For us, we wanted the character to be genuine and Chris works extremely hard to ground the character. ... I think if we pulled something where he suddenly got his sight back; it would feel cheesy and unearned."











Where to next?:

Executive producer Doug Liman — who has quite a few stamps on his passport thanks to his work on The Bourne Trilogy — credited the show's frequent jet-setting to the "incredible support" of USA and Universal.

And he said there are many more stops ahead on "Covert Affairs'" international tour.

"Usually you don't get to do that until your fifth or sixth season. This season, they're letting us go all over the world," he said.

"As long as the fans continue to support us, we'll be allowed to travel more and more and go to more and more exotic places."


Perabo's favorite destination?

"Paris was pretty magical to shoot in. It was like being in a movie," she said.

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