From acclaimed writer/producer/director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Fringe, Lost, Alias) and executive producer/writer Josh Reims (Brothers and Sisters, What About Brian) comes a sexy, fun, action-packed spy drama that proves once and for all that marriage is still the world’s most dangerous partnership.
Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Vacation, Soul Food, Resident Evil: Afterlife) and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, “Dr. Who, Bonekickers), are a typical married couple who own and operate a small catering company in Los Angeles — with help from Samantha’s easily frazzled, handful of a sister, Lizzy (Mekia Cox, 90210, This Is It). Secretly, the duo were two of the best spies the CIA had ever known, until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired.
When fellow spy and good friend Leo Nash (Carter MacIntyre, American Heiress, Nip/Tuck) goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss and agency liaison, Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney, Deadwood, Jericho), to locate and rescue Nash.
With assistance from resourceful CIA field agent Bill Hoyt (Ben Schwartz, Parks and Recreation, Bronx World Travelers), whose professional admiration for Steven isn’t hard to miss, the pair is thrust back into the world of espionage, disguises and hand-to-hand combat.
Following leads that take them to cities spanning the globe, Steven and Samantha quickly realize that perhaps this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides exactly the kind of excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing.
Undercovers is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Abrams directed the pilot and co-wrote it, along with Reims. They also serve as executive producers along with Bryan Burk (Star Trek, Fringe, Lost, Alias).
Born in Vienna, Austria and raised in Germany, Boris Kodjoe was previously named one of the “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” by People magazine and has amassed an impressive list of film and television credits.
Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the regulars from the Showtime drama “Soul Food,” a show that introduced him to co-star and future wife Nicole Ari Parker and which garnered him three NAACP Award nominations. He would later star with Parker in the sitcom Second Time Around, which he also produced.
Among his feature films include Spike Lee’s Love and Basketball, Brown Sugar where he appeared alongside Taye Diggs and Queen Latifah, The Gospel, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, All About Us and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. Most recently, he appeared opposite Bruce Willis in the action-thriller Surrogates and appears in the Paul Anderson-directed thriller Resident Evil: Afterlife, currently playing in theaters.
In 2009, he made his Broadway debut in the Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which included a talented cast that featured James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose and Giancarlo Esposito.
Prior to launching his acting career, he modeled at the Ford Modeling agency, where he was involved in such campaigns as Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Yves Saint Laurent and The Gap. Given his fashion background, he recently started up the clothing company ALFA with his brother Patrick.
Kodjoe’s main personal interest is to raise funds for Sophie’s Voice Foundation, which he and his wife started in honor of their daughter, Sophie, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth.
He and Nicole have two children, and they reside in Los Angeles.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born in Oxford in the United Kingdom, and was classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Having studied Shakespeare, Mbatha-Raw’s first professional role was in an Open Air production of As you Like It, playing the role of Celia. This was followed by roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in Antony and Cleopatra and the title role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, for which she was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actress in 2005.
Mbatha-Raw’s British television credits include M15, Dr. Who, Marple: Ordeal By Innocence, Bonekickers and Fallout. It was this latter role that led to her being selected as a “Star of Tomorrow 2008” by industry magazine Screen International.
Other stage credits include the critically acclaimed Big White Fog at the Almeida Theatre and Gethsemane, a production at the National Theatre that later toured the U.K. Mbatha-Raw made her West End debut as Ophelia in Hamlet opposite Jude Law, whose production transferred to New York’s Broadhurst Theatre for a limited run and was a hit on Broadway in 2009.
She recently completed her first feature, Larry Crowne, in Los Angeles with Tom Hanks directing and co-starring Julia Roberts.
Mbatha-Raw currently divides her time between London and Los Angeles.
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