Dominic Cooke on The Courier and His Movie Adaptation of Follies

With The Courier now playing in select theaters, I recently spoke to director Dominic Cooke about making the spy thriller. The film is based on the true story of British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), who helped the CIA penetrate the Soviet nuclear program during the Cold War. Wynne and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), formed an unlikely partnership that helped to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s. The Courier also stars Rachel Brosnahan as a CIA agent and Jessie Buckley as Cumberbatch’s wife (Sheila Wynne). During the interview, Cooke talked about why he was on board with the title change from Ironbark to The Courier, how he didn’t change anything after the Sundance Film Festival world premiere, how he’s working on an intelligent romantic comedy set in London, and more. In addition, he gives a great update on his movie adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, including the people he wants to bring with him from his stage version of the show.