Warning: This article contains spoilers about In From The Cold season 1.
Jenny Franklin is an almost unbelievably complex person, but what drew star Margarita Levieva to In From The Cold was how connected she felt to the thriller's heroine. After training as a rhythmic gymnast while growing up in Russia before moving to the United States, Levieva has an understanding of what it's like to start a new life — albeit, not an undercover one.
In From The Cold follows Jenny, a single mom, to Spain for her daughter Becca's (Lydia Fleming) ice skating competition. Shortly after their arrival, it's revealed that Jenny has a secret past life as a Russian assassin, known as The Whisper, with the ability to morph into other people.
While initially shocked by Jenny's power, Levieva was also drawn to the thriller's unique approach to the supernatural. "What I loved about it was [her] superpower is not easy or easily accessible, and it costs her deeply," Levieva tells EW. As she tells Chauncey [Cillian O'Sullivan], morphing is painful for her. "She does not like it herself and wants to avoid ever doing it, so that part of it is enticing."
Some of the most integral and fun to watch scenes of In From the Cold are the elaborate action sequences. Levieva, a trained athlete and dancer, leapt at the chance to perform her own stunts. "It was absolutely thrilling to get to do a lot of that myself," she says. "It gave me the opportunity to use all of my abilities and challenge myself in big ways."
Knowing the physicality the role would require, Levieva started preparing even before heading to Spain to train. While still in quarantine, she started Zoom sessions with a trainer and the stunt team. Levieva has done stunts before, but working on In From The Cold felt different. "I felt like they were my core family. They were my protectors," she explains. She worked extensively with the team to rehearse the intricate fight scenes, which paid off when it came time to shoot.
Of all the fights, Levieva's favorite was her face-off with an operative at a Hammam. The sprawling battle stretched across two rooms and landed the pair in a pool. "I'm really grateful. I got to do so much of it," she says of that particular sequence.
The actress did have to do some convincing to perform one stunt herself. In an ice rink showdown near the end of the season, Jenny fights a Russian operative wearing ice skates. Except for when Jenny gets slammed into the side of the rink, Levieva did the entire fight, including when her opponent brings her skate down near Jenny's head. "They were like, 'you can't do that. What if she hits you,'" Levieva says. "I said, 'we're going to keep eye contact, practice it,' and we did it."
Equally as impressive as Levieva's action prowess is season 1's finale shocker. In the closing moments, Jenny digs up a hidden cell phone and tells an unknown person on the other end that a secretive plan "worked," revealing that Jenny — who we now know is Agent Anya Petrova — has been in on it since the very beginning. "I found out right before I started filming," she says of her character's secret. "That was a challenge because I gotta find all these layers. I'm lying, but I'm pretending that I'm not lying. Ultimately, the through-line that I found was that the characters I'm in the scene with have to believe her."
Jenny's secret plan aside, there is another huge question mark going into a potential second season, and that is Chauncey. He forces Jenny back into this life (or so he thinks), but the adversaries become lovers of sorts by the end. A potential season 2 would question just how genuine those feelings are. "Is Jenny using Chauncey to get what she needs? Yes. She believes that she's attracted to him. Is that true? Yes," Levieva says. Chauncey believes he forced Jenny to once again become The Whisper for the CIA, showing a similar cunning to Jenny. "I always saw the two of them as two animals part of the same pack. They're both lone wolves, and they both have a history they carry that drives what they do. There's a lot of pain in both of their lives, too," Levieva says. It's safe to say that if there's more In From the Cold, there will be plenty of complicated threads to unravel.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
- In From The Cold boss breaks down what the massive final twist means
- Stay Close showrunner breaks down the thrilling end to mystery miniseries
- The Girl Before cast on the shocking finale, the killer's secret backstory, and the characters' futures