Nick Mohammed – Intelligence

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) For U.S. audiences who aren’t yet familiar, what is the premise for “Intelligence?”

A) So, it’s set in an institution over there GCHQ, which is I guess the equivalent of the NSA in the States and the sitcom itself focuses on a small team, this odd bunch of misfits, I guess, who tackle cybercrime, specifically. The sort of baseload to the series is sort of following around these quite sort of odd individuals and sort of tinkering about their strange lives and they’re kind of almost humdrum daily interactions that they have. But it’s set against this massive backdrop of national security. And then within that you have David Schwimmer’s character who has come over from the NSA as like a liaison officer. Well, you sort of find out over the course of the series the real reason why he’s there. His reason for being there is possibly not quite what he’s sort of letting on in the first instance. So, I think it plays a lot with the culture clash. He’s an American. And not just American, but he’s a really brash, bullish American who’s not afraid to kind of make his opinions heard in a very kind of…like it’s the very dexterous ways. And then yeah, I guess it’s about that clash. And the character who I play, Joseph, who almost sees Jerry as a bit of an older brother kind of figure, this sort of exotic, exciting new addition to the workplace. So, he kind of idolizes him. And so in that respect, it’s a little bit of a bromance as well.

Q) Where did the concept for this come from?

A) It kind of came from my desire…I’m kind of always been a big fan of sitcoms, The Office, American Office. I used to work for an investor, in fact, called Morgan Stanley, and I wasn’t there at the firm for that long. But my time there, which was very enjoyable, but a lot of the time I genuinely had no idea what was I was doing. But I was aware that some of the stuff I was doing, or some of the access I have, in IT systems was literally quite important and not nearly as important as, say, national security for GCHQ. But it felt kind of strange to be kind of coasting through a job but with very little understanding as exactly to what I was doing. I always found that quite … This was interesting and just always wondered … I wondered how many people in my line of work never really quite know what it is they’re doing. Obviously, a lot of people do and maybe it’s just me. So, it was a little bit of useful, relatable experience, I guess but just that attraction of an institution weighing some of the effects on the human … sort of human side there to have time to drink or if someone’s birthday you have cake. But then you got this huge backdrop of national security, so they’re also working on this kind of incredible things and supporting these … these tasks. So, I found the juxtaposition of this sort of mundane versus the high stakes sort of espionage interesting and also the culture clash, I guess, to an extent as well. And just generally speaking, GCHQ is one of those areas or one of those institutions that is rightly shrouded in mystery because of the nature of what they do. So, as a writer, it’s quite an exciting place to write within because you can have a little bit of fun with the artistic license of what kind of really goes on behind closed doors and play with the audience’s expectations a little bit because no one really knows, you know? [laughs] So that’s always been quite fun as well.

Q) How involved were you in that process?

A) Yeah, throughout, really because I’m an executive producer on the show. So, both David and I have been across it all from initial conversations about tone and, so I then went ahead and wrote the script. But we knew even then there was a lot of input because if we would talk a lot about story and backstory and character development, but, yeah, throughout casting…Obviously, I had worked with David before. So, very much the part was written for him and so he was on board from that first script onward, really. I knew Jane Stanness, who plays Mary in the show, because I worked with Jane before, and effectively I meant the part for her, too. But other than that, everyone else we cast and then had a proper sort of casting session and that went on for a good few weeks. It’s not something that I’d really witnessed and certainly not from sort of outside the table, you know? I’d been sort of blocked. I’d never really seen it through that much, from the other side. So, it’s really interesting. A lot of great people come in, but, yeah, we’re really proud of our cast. It’s a really fun, diverse cast and then we just had the best time and everybody’s just so lovely in the show. It’s a real joy to be around them.

Q) Tell us about working with David.

A) Yeah. So, when I first met him it was a pilot that I had written over there with a brilliant comedian called Julia Davis. And her and I had done a pilot for Channel 4, which Dave…I don’t quite remember how he got wind of it, but he definitely loved seeing it and then doing it. So, the show never got picked up to series …never made it to series in the end, but David had come over to workshop and improv stuff with us and sort of drew on the cameras and so on. And so that was the first time that I had met David. We just got on really well. We had similar sort of sensibilities in terms of what made us laugh and we just sort of stayed in touch, really. It wasn’t until a good kind of year until I sort of came around to writing up the treatment for a television show. I really mentioned the idea to David, but as soon as I did, he was kind of all over it. It was nice being able to be collaborative with someone with so much experience. And this is my first series. I’ve been on my own and to be able to kind of lean into that and his experience of, well, not … not just the industry as a whole but just sitcom he’s one of the greatest comic actors of a generation as well. So, he’s so inspiring to kind of work with him in that way. That’s just been wonderful. You know, it’s very strange because, obviously, I was a big fan of “Friends,” as billions of people, I’m sure are as well. There was an element of this is kind of crazy that we’re working together, but it’s been a sort of testament to how wonderful David is, really, and how lacking in ego he is. Then, we just kind of clicked from the off and he’s just made working together just very, very easy. There’s no ego. There’s no kind of tough sort of expecting that his opinion is the only one and his is the right way. We have always sort of worked through on our policy of where everybody is just gonna win in terms of choosing through our material, casting, in the edit bay and so on. So, yeah, for him fully collaborative in that way and, yeah, just great to work with David and I’m just totally grateful.

Q) Was there room for much improv when you’re on set or did you guys tend to stick to the script?

A) Well, yes and no. We always do the pass on the script. We’ll always make sure we film the script first, just to make sure we have it because we need it for storytelling and just the scenes to kind of make sense. You don’t want improve to get out of hand, but absolutely. We factored in room for improv within the shooting schedule and certain setups that allow for a lot of that. For example, when David and I take to task on everyone in episode two. I mean, David basically hooks us up to a live sector and just that it’s real, like, as if he was just asking questions out of the blue. Then we didn’t stick to script for some of them. A lot of the time he was just throwing straight questions at us to see how we’d react in character. So, there was certain setups where we knew we could allow for it, but then other times, such as a lot of those boardroom scenes where we’re all kind of sitting around the table, the opening shots there pretty much. Because there are so many people in there, so you’re looking at five or six minimum scenes. It would be difficult to improvise that because too many things and the danger would just be to get a bit out of hand because everyone would be trying to chip in and it’d be difficult, I think, to really capture it. So often with the two-handers, we allowed ourselves for improv and occasionally with some of the great stuff we did. But it was usually those kinds of things that we allowed ourselves to look through in improvising. And as nice as it seems to sort of flesh out the scenes that that happens in and a lot of the scene in episode one where Dave did not … Well, I’m showing David around when he needs a toilet and when they’re trying to get through it that was improvised. So, we needed to work this out, but we were able to play around with a lot of that. So, yeah, it’s nice.

Q) You have great comedic timing. Is it something that’s always just been an innate ability for you or have you worked it in in some fashion?

A) Oh, that’s very kind of you to say. I’ve never been taught anything. So, that probably shows as well. [laughs] I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh, ever since I was in school, I guess. It’s that weird thing. It’s always like a nature/nurture thing. Like, can you learn comedy? Like, you can definitely get an actor to perform funny material, but I know, for me, the funniest people in terms of the people who I find funniest have always just … I mean, it seems to be like almost intrinsic to who they are, you know? They’ve just got, I guess, funny bones and you can’t quite put your finger on what that is and whether you could really teach that to someone, even though there is, I guess, a certain discipline through writing comedy in terms of structure and the dynamics of setups and punch lines. You could learn that in some form. But, yeah, in terms of comedy performance, certainly the people who I find funny, I would say, are innately funny, just have funny bones and they’re funny people to be around and have a funny outlook on life. But, yeah. Well, I have a distinct interest in making people laugh, even from an early age, even though I wasn’t trained. I was quite little in terms of finding acting and comedy and writing. You know, I was 20, 22, 21, 22. So, it certainly wasn’t something that I was sort of for early on in my life. Oh, yeah, this is definitely why I wanna be a comedy writer or comedy actor or something like that. Certainly, I didn’t do a school kind of elite university sort of discipline that would, which would allow for that. I did find some degree level, so I wasn’t sort of myself up for a career in the arts or anything.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film for “Intelligence” or maybe ones that hold a special place in your heart?

A) The lie detector stuff, I have to say, I did really enjoy all of that. That was fun. This might spoil you, but at the end of the story, a wedding is staged where David and my character have to get married and that would be avoid him being expedited so o he could obtain British citizenship and that scene, the wedding…The actual wedding ceremony scene, there were so many things kind of going on in that kind of characteristic traditional Mongolian folk song and Jane’s character is officiating the ceremony, but she was doing it in a very funny, odd way. And all sorts of planning went in to filming it on the night that he apparently was actually filming it for other camera angles for real. But it was sort of the amalgamation of all this – all that was in this room in slightly weird outfits and I remember it was one of the hottest days of the year when we filmed that. So, I think everyone was going slightly delirious because there was no air con. And so, yeah, that I have very fond sort of mixed memories about it a good way. It was deeply funny. I never laughed more, I don’t think, in my life. But equally, it was quite destabilizing because I was just worried from a producer point of view that we were never really gonna come for this and I thought so that was really fun and the fighting was fun. I’m a big fan of the best boardroom ones where it’s just a lot of back and forth between five people sitting down. I really like a lot of that stuff and all the areas that we were supposed to not speak about. Often times, quite sensitive subjects. We talked about race quite a lot, and I found that really interesting as a writer. So, it’s really nice to see this come to life, I guess.

Q) What do you think it is about this series that has made it such a fast fan favorite comedy?

A) Oh, gosh. I don’t know. I mean, that’s not for me to say. Obviously, David is such a huge, huge draw for this show and he’s indivisible and he’s perfect in this show. And, obviously, it’s a world away from Ross, and so he was still going to see everything David can bring us, I guess, in a way that we’ve not all seen before. But I think it’s the nice, little stuff. Well, I hope that’s what it is. That’s always what it was saying – a fun blend of … I hope to be quite fast-paced, quick-witted writing back and forth. But you’ve got kind of character comedy there, you know? And even quite “The Office” comedy as well. And I think that’s all a larger factor to a lot of things that I like, you know? From shows like these, which I think they’re incredibly sophisticated. I guess so it’s we’re working to, like, making from films, which is actually quite goofy and why film is so cartoonish. But I’ve always been drawn to a lot of that and our traditional sitcoms, British sitcoms. And with this they kind of reset every episode and I guess I wanted to not consciously push against the tide, but been the fashion of, like, for a lot of half-hour comedies and they’re here to be, I think (in my opinion) more like comedy dramas in terms of the amounts of jokes and gags and, instead, they’re often in a place of pathos and there’s a lot more depth in the characters. And that one, by the way, that’s not to disparage those shows by any means. That’s some of the greatest shows in a long time. I just know that I’ve always been a fan of always kind of pushing for the comedy and for the gag over anything else, over storytelling, a very emotional depth. If I can make someone laugh… And for a comedian, that’s just my job. And so, it certainly is what it would play to a strength of mine as opposed to doing something a little more heartfelt. Not to say that I wouldn’t connect with that kind of character further down the line, but it’s my first my first sitcom. I just wanted it to be, first and foremost, a comedy and have lots of gags and then so on. So, I hope that people appreciate that and maybe especially again because it slightly goes against the tide of the more, I guess, more sophisticated comedies. Maybe they have a little bit more gravitas and try to resonate in a more of a sort of deeper way than this show which is outwardly such a silly comedy and quite proudly silly as well.

Q) What kind of feedback have you been receiving?

A) it’s been lovely. I tend to dip in and out of social media, you know? I sometimes think you play with fire a little bit if you’re looking because it absolutely has its uses and… [laughs] Well, my background is in live comedy and certainly for a while it was a really good way kind of cut my ties when I was doing gigs. I guess tweeting out reviews and ticket links and things like that. I think, with it now having, a really big platform sort of slipping out here already and then obviously came out on Tik Tok…As much as I do try to maybe do as a little as I can, because in some respects I still want to market the show, but I’m always wary of social media for good and bad reasons. And I was lucky with “Intelligence,” it certainly went ahead, but it was overwhelmingly a really nice sort of outpouring of love for the show and I was really grateful for that and it was wonderful to see. It’s nice to kind of have that feedback, but equally the sort of sound remarks and you think, “Well, you got it kind of rough with this move because there were certainly shows that I’ve enjoyed and other people have enjoyed that I haven’t.” So, of course you’re gonna get some of that feedback as well, but Twitter makes it sound easy so I know you have to slightly take it with a pinch of salt. But, no, I have been on the whole, really kind of bowled over and touched by the feedback and it’s just nice to finally have it out there, because you know, we … we filmed Intelligence back in, well, a year ago, basically, so it’s been … and obviously, I was writing it a year before that, so it’s been a good, you know, almost two years before you can actually have that real feedback before from real people, as it were, can properly tell you whether they found it funny or not. So, it’s only really then that you know if you’ve done your job properly. Certainly with television, that’s the case. Obviously, when you do live comedy gig, this immediate response that you get from the immediate laugh or giggle…I mean, if you don’t get a laugh and you couldn’t tell whether you’re doing well or not instantly because our audience feedback with television, it’s slightly different and there are lot more stages and there’s a lot more people involved and full prep that just sort of gets sort of dragged on for a lot longer. And so, yeah, it’s nice to have it finally out there and for people to enjoy it. It’s a really good feeling.

Q) What would you like to say to people who are fans and supporters of you and the wonderful work you do?

A) Oh, gosh, well, thank you for supporting that work. It means a hell of a lot, you know? I still think of myself as a bit of a novice or suffer from imposter syndrome a little bit, because I’m doing the thing that I adore. I adore doing what I do and I feel very lucky to be able to be in that position. Even to create comedy, particularly comedy on television, it is not filmed without its audience, you know? It has to find its audience and the audiences that are bigger part of a project like this as it is to create that content, you need people to watch it. You need people to enjoy it in the same way that there are shows or the new thing that I’ll tune into and I adore and it allows me to relax and switch off if I’m able to sort of inspire other people to do that. I think it’s kind of a great feeling, really. And so, yeah, kind of a thumbs up and thanks if people have been enjoying my stuff and I have continued to be more. We’re doing more “Intelligence,” which is nice. So, we’re about to film that. With COVID, it’s slightly been put back only until September to December and there’s not a huge delay. I don’t know when it’ll come to the United States, but I suspect that we’re to put it out over here at the start of next year. So, yeah, but it’s all very exciting and I’m very, very grateful, is the bottom line.