He further cemented his status when he was cast as Harry Palmer, the spying protagonist from Len Deighton’s novels. Michael Caine was busy making a name for himself in ‘60s cinema with his role in Zulu. In Salt – taking over the role of a spurned CIA agent originally tagged for Tom Cruise – she does both, proving again how adept she is at pulling off both the cool calm and physical prowess required for this kind of role. From scaling the Burj Khalifa to dangling from a moving plane, Ethan Hunt is the man you want behind your mission.Īngelina Jolie has played a secret agent more than once and kicked butt more than once. Every Mission: Impossible instalment ups the ante on the action as Tom Cruise’s stunts (all self-performed) get bigger, bolder and more daring. She succeeds at both, until British Army Lieutenant Hicox reveals that he’s not as German as he pretends, while the American trio’s incompetent grasp of Italian and “any other language other than English” fails to pull the wool over Landa’s eyes.ĭespite the title, no mission is impossible for Ethan Hunt and his band of merry men, which grows from film to film and now includes Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner. Inglorios Basterds’ German Allied spy Bridget von Hammersmark is cool as a cucumber and smooth as silk – whether she’s duping a band of drunken German soldiers during a card game or trying to convince the wicked Colonel Hans Landa that her American compatriots are actually Italian. From 1965’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold to 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, le Carré’s novels and characters have inspired many worthy films and performances throughout the decades.
Movies about secret agents movie#
Given the popularity of book to movie spies like Bond, Bourne, and Palmer (you’ll meet them below), it’s also not surprising that many of le Carré’s spies made it to the screen. Having worked for the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), it’s hardly surprising that John le Carré started writing spy thrillers.
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The main character in almost any John le Carré novel adapted for the big screen.Paired with grumpy veteran alien handler Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones, the young agent J was the elder’s perfect foil in Men in Black and its two sequels. With Idris Elba (who also happens to be a popular James Bond candidate amongst fans) playing a CIA agent in your Sunday night movie this weekend, we thought we’d peek into the corridors of the FBI, CIA, MI6, and so forth for a look at ten of our favourites.įrom chasing crooked cops to punching invasive aliens, Will Smith was the personification of cool in the ’90s and his brand of cool is just what the secret alien-monitoring agency Men in Black needed. Whether dressed to the nines or dressed in a mask, spies and secret agents add a dash of cool, collected calm and an element of intrigue to the plethora of movies in the ever-popular spy genre.