POWER games

ROBERT DE NIRO on playing a troubled former President in a political thriller

- ELAINE REILLY

ZERO DAY

NEW FROM THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY, NETFLIX THRILLER

With a glittering film career spanning 60 years, Robert De Niro is no stranger to finding himself at the heart of the action on the silver screen. Now, the two-time Oscar-winning actor (The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull) is taking his first big role in a TV series as he headlines Netflix's much-anticipated six-part thriller Zero Day.

Robert plays George Mullen, a retired US President who makes an unexpected return to the political sphere to help unravel a complex web of lies after a chilling 60-second cyberattack results in thousands of fatalities and brings America to the brink of societal breakdown.

TV Times joined Robert, 81, at a special press conference where he gave us his take on the story...

What piqued your interest in making a TV series, Robert?

I was talking to my agent about doing something in New York, so I could stay at home, and asked him if we could find a limited series that would film over five or six months. He introduced me to [Narcos showrunner] Eric Newman, who wrote a treatment - that's a long-form written version of the show - and the material was good. Then Eric started sending me episode scripts every few weeks and that was it. I was in.

It's so well conceived and written by Eric, [American producer and screenwriter] Noah Oppenheim and [Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist] Michael Schmidt.

Where do we find George Mullen when we first meet him?