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POLITICAL thriller television series Zero Day is out today on Netflix.
Starring Robert De Niro and Lizzy Caplan, the nine-episode miniseries follows former US President George Mullen (played by Robert) during the aftermath of a cyber-attack that kills thousands of people, as he leads the charge to bring those responsible to justice while confronting his own dark secrets.
Zero-day is a broad term that describes recently discovered vulnerabilities in software or hardware, thus giving the vendor ‘zero days’ to fix it.
Show creator Eric Newman of crime drama series Narcos fame revealed that he pitched the concept to Robert over dinner, noting that the Oscar-winning actor, also credited as the series’ producer, was his first choice.
“If you have someone playing the president, a former president, and someone who needed a level of authenticity and credibility and gravitas it’s a very short list, and Bob was at the top of it,” Eric said in an interview.
“He very much became our partner in this process, very hands-on, very involved, read everything at every stage, and it’s been an incredible honour and privilege.
“You can count on one hand the actors and actresses in history who bring this level of gravitas, pedigree, and talent to their work,” he added.
The show also marks Robert’s first time starring in a TV series role, an experience that he described as ‘doing three features back to back’.
“I was in most of it. And so I had to keep up with everything, even as simple as knowing the lines. So I likened it to being in the English Channel, swimming to England from France, looking behind me and not seeing France, looking ahead, not seeing England. I gotta keep going, otherwise I’m gonna sink,” he said.
