Richard Gere Turned Down ‘The Agency’ Before Signing on To Play CIA Bureau Chief After Re-Writes: ‘When Bosko Walks in the Room, He’s the Boss, and Everyone Has To Acknowledge That’

Richard Gere originally turned down the part of Bosko, the CIA’s London bureau chief in Paramount+ series “The Agency,” he tells Variety.

It was only after showrunners Jez and John-Henry Butterworth re-wrote the part following extensive notes from Gere that the screen icon agreed to come on board.

The show, which stars Michael Fassbender as an undercover operative who has trouble adjusting to civilian life, is an adaptation of French Canal+ series “Le Bureau des Légendes” by Éric Rochant. Jeffrey Wright and Jodie Turner-Smith also star in the U.S./U.K. adaptation.

According to Gere, fans hoping to see more of Bosko’s backstory in Season 2 are set to be disappointed. But the actor says he enjoyed leaning into his role as bureau chief, referring to himself in the third person when he told the cast and crew: “When I walk in the room, I’m the boss. I don’t demand that — Richard Gere does not demand that — but when Bosko walks in the room, he’s the boss, and everyone has to acknowledge that.”

Read more from Variety‘s interview with Gere below.