RED ALERT

STARS HALEY LU RICHARDSON AND ADRIAN LESTER TALK TO LYNN RUSK ABOUT THEIR NEW SPY THRILLER SERIES, PONIES, SET IN 1970s MOSCOW

- LYNN RUSK

THE SPIES HAVE IT: Emilia and Haley as Bea and Twila

WHEN we think of Cold War spy thrillers, we tend to picture the male-led espionage worlds of John le Carré or Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.

Ponies, a new series created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson (The Spy Who Dumped Me), shifts the focus to two secretaries at the US embassy in Moscow who become CIA operatives after their spy husbands die in mysterious circumstances.

The eight-part thriller stars Haley Lu Richardson as Twila, a small-town girl who is as abrasive as she is fearless, alongside Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Bea, an overeducated, Russian-speaking daughter of Soviet immigrants. The series also features Adrian Lester as the pair’s CIA handler, Dane Walter.

Set in 1977 Moscow, Twila and Bea are PONIES - ‘persons of no interest’ in intelligence speak - enlisted to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and solve the mystery that made them widows in the first place.

Haley, 31, who is perhaps best-known for playing Portia, the overworked 20-something assistant to the obscenely wealthy Tanya (played by Jennifer Coolidge) in The White Lotus series two, says she shares many similarities with her character Twila.

“Twila was the most poignant and resonant draw to the project for me. She and I have a lot of parallels and similarities,” says the American actress.

“She's very different from any character I’ve gotten to play before, and I felt like deep in my bones that I needed to be the person that played her.

“But I also love the friendship between Twila and Bea that develops in this unlikely world.”

Speaking about the female-led aspect of the series, Haley adds: “It’s cool to see an action-packed spy-type show, but really at its heart, it’s these two women learning about themselves and their true power and purpose, and doing that through forming a real friendship.