{"id":15813,"date":"2021-10-26T08:50:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T12:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T12:42:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T16:42:46","slug":"traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/","title":{"rendered":"Traitor\u2019s Imaginative Take on Real-Life Spy Scandals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer Martin Algus and actor Tambet Tuisk talk to <\/em>TV Drama about the Estonian espionage series <\/em>Traitor, imbuing its antihero with humanity and taking a local story global.<\/em><\/p>\n

Estonia\u2019s first espionage series, Traitor\u00a0<\/em>takes its inspiration from real-life historical scandals that shook the nation as it joined NATO in 2004 and became a target of Russian intelligence. It centers on the unscrupulous but charming Alfred Vint, an official at the Estonian Ministry of Defence who becomes a Russian spy.<\/p>\n

Algus came to be involved in the project at its inception, when the Estonian multiservice provider Elisa reached out to him and proposed that he write a spy thriller inspired by real-life events. \u201cI instantly realized that this was a really good chance for me to do something serious,\u201d says Algus, who explains that most Estonian TV falls into a more comedic space. \u201cThe topic itself is important for Estonians and for myself because we have had these kinds of spy scandals almost all of the time during our independence, and they always catch a lot of attention. I thought I could bring some human parts to this topic, like who is this person, what is the character of that traitor? How does a person become a traitor? This is not an instant transformation. It was interesting for me to get into the head of this traitor and start to follow the little things and wonder what is happening with this person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuisk, who came onboard Traitor<\/em> only two months before filming commenced for its first season, was a natural fit for the role, according to Algus. For his part, Tuisk was keen to join the project after reading just the first part of Algus\u2019s script. \u201cWhen I\u2019m reading scripts, I\u2019m trying to read them like a story\u2014not to take this kind of actor\u2019s view [of] what I can play\u2014just trying to understand the main story, the main plots,\u201d says Tuisk. \u201cIs it interesting and how does it get me emotionally? This script really got me from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Tuisk reread the script from an actor\u2019s perspective, considering how to play his character, he dove into his own memories of the time in which Traitor<\/em> is set and did his due diligence with regards to research on the spy scandals to have a firm grasp on what had actually taken place. \u201cBackground gives, for me, more imagination,\u201d Tuisk explains. \u201cHow can I develop that kind of person, [take] what really happened and use it for myself?\u201d<\/p>\n

Approaching the script, Algus, too, used a blend of memory, research and imagination. Due to the subject matter, he knew that in order to avoid any legal complications no real-life spy\u2019s story could be recognizable within the series. \u201cThis is one side of the story for me, how to walk on this narrow road,\u201d says Algus. \u201cOn one side, there are real facts and real life and on the other, my own imagination to combine the story with these tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to the story that Algus took to the screen is the traitor, Alfred. \u201cThis main character is a bad guy. He does lots of harm to the country and his relatives, to everybody who surrounds him,\u201d explains the writer of the fictional spy. \u201cBut it was important for us at the same time that he was charming. Tambet is the ideal combination of this. He could play this evil guy very charmingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuisk, who has played real-life characters before, steers clear of trying to imitate anyone in particular, using the script and his acting instincts to make Alfred come alive. \u201cFor me, acting is translating, and I was searching things that this character Alfred was doing there [in the script] and for answers from myself, putting myself into these kinds of positions,\u201d says Tuisk. \u201cFor actors, these are the best parts. Be charming and bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Characters like Alfred, complicated antihero protagonists, are popular with audiences \u201cbecause they\u2019re not so black and white,\u201d says Tuisk. \u201cI\u2019ve also played characters that are bad or good\u2014too good or too bad. It\u2019s one color. As [a viewer], I already know he is like that but\u2026if they are more like human beings, they are more charming, you can see their ups and downs, it makes them more attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Central to the GoQuest Media-distributed series\u2019 international appeal is \u201cthe timeless themes of a person caught between two fires and he can\u2019t go back, and this thriller story behind the historical story, which I hope is also understandable outside of Estonia,\u201d says Algus, who also believes global audiences will be intrigued by the NATO theme throughout the series.<\/p>\n

Tuisk adds, \u201cIn Estonia, a small country, we have lots of stories like everywhere [else], and we have to do our stories. If they\u2019re interesting stories for us\u2014for actors, scriptwriters and directors\u2014then I think there is a possibility that they are interesting also for the audience. It doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re from Asia or the States or somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filming for the second season of Traitor<\/em> wrapped earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writer Martin Algus and actor Tambet Tuisk discuss the Estonian espionage series Traitor, imbuing its antihero with humanity and taking a local story global.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1033,"featured_media":15814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70],"tags":[4727,4728,4729],"class_list":["post-15813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-martin-algus","tag-tambet-tuisk","tag-traitor","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nTraitor\u2019s Imaginative Take on Real-Life Spy Scandals - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Traitor\u2019s Imaginative Take on Real-Life Spy Scandals - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Writer Martin Algus and actor Tambet Tuisk discuss the Estonian espionage series Traitor, imbuing its antihero with humanity and taking a local story global.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T12:50:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-24T16:42:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/07\/GoQuest-Media-Traitor_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/\",\"name\":\"Traitor\u2019s Imaginative Take on Real-Life Spy Scandals - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-26T12:50:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-24T16:42:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/traitors-imaginative-take-on-real-life-spy-scandals\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Traitor\u2019s Imaginative Take on Real-Life Spy Scandals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\",\"name\":\"Chelsea Regan\",\"description\":\"Chelsea Regan is the managing editor of World Screen. 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