INTERVIEW: Mark O'Brien Talks 'The Copenhagen Test'

© Peacock

Peacock premiered its new spy thriller The Copenhagen Test last December. The series stars Simu Liu, Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, and Mark O’Brien as operatives working within a highly confidential institution tasked with overseeing global security threats. As tensions rise and information is deliberately withheld, the characters are forced to navigate shifting alliances and high-stakes moral decisions. I spoke with Mark O’Brien about his role on The Copenhagen Test, the challenges of portraying a character operating with limited information, and what initially drew him to the project.

What initially grabbed your attention about The Copenhagen Test? How did it come together?

Mark O'Brien: When I read it, I had no preconceived notions of it at all. I didn't know anything about it. I was really intrigued by the premise because it felt like something that was heightened yet possible in our world today, which is a really unique zone to be in, I think, when you're creating a television show or a film or a project because we want to be able to relate to it, but we also want that sort of drama. It just felt like something that, as a reader of the scripts, I didn't know what the outcomes could be. I want to know where they could take this show. And that, to me, was really fascinating, because it felt like something that it's like, "Shouldn't someone have thought of this before?" Which is a testament to someone being ahead of the curve, which I think Thomas Brandon was in this case.

Yes, it was like that for me too. When I watched the pilot, I was like, "Okay, I want to see more of this."

Your character operates inside a highly confidential institution but is deliberately kept in the dark. How did you approach playing someone whose actions are shaped by missing information?

Mark O'Brien: All you have to do is be an actor for 10 or 20 years, and you're used to not getting information or being kept in the dark. But in all seriousness, it's actually very fun playing a character who is trying to put things together. He's trying to figure it out. The pieces are slowly coming together, because it makes the character very active, and they're doing something, and they're working on something, and they don't know who they can trust. So, their allegiances are shifting constantly, and they're questioning everything that's happening around them, and that's just really good drama and conflict to play. I really enjoy that a lot. For Cobb, he also can't show too much because he doesn't really know if he can reveal what he knows, and he's not sure what he's going to find out. So it's a very complex and kind of restrained character in a lot of ways.

Your character begins acting against the wishes of the institutions because he believed they are not seeing it clearly. Did you view that as rebellion, moral responsibility, or something more instinctual?

Mark O'Brien: I mean, it consequently is rebellious, but I actually thought it was being responsible. It's like, this is not right, what we're doing. What is happening here? There's clearly a mold, there's a leak, there's something going on. This isn't just like at some random corporation. This is the overseers of the overseers. So this is of national importance. I actually think as much as he can be deemed condescending in certain ways, there's a lot about him that's not perfect on a social level, but I actually think on an ethical and moral level, his compass is actually pretty sharp. In that way, it ends up being rebellious, but it's for what he thinks to be the greater good.

How important was it for you to ground that specific belief emotionally so it never feels paranoid, but genuinely urgent from his perspective?

Mark O'Brien: It's tough. Like I said, there's a lot of complexity going on underneath the surface with Cobb, and it's fun as an actor to play things that you're hiding. I think he is paranoid completely, but he has to put on a certain facade. Combined with that, he is a bit of a ladder climber. He wants to go higher and higher, and he would love to run the orphanage one day, I'm sure. You've got to play your cards just right. I think it's an age-old adage, but as long as you're feeling it and thinking it as the character, it will come through. I hope that it did. That's the way I've viewed the character, for sure.

Was there a specific emotional element you kept returning to when playing someone who feels unheard inside a rigid system?

Mark O'Brien: Yeah, I think it's quiet frustration. Where you're so angry about what you're hearing, but you know you have to just keep it together. I think he's the kind of character who can't keep his mouth shut at certain points, so he just has to say something. But he knows he's got to keep it together. So a quiet frustration was a running theme for me that I really enjoyed playing because it's something that has to be so subtle. It's so small, but it's just enough that it's throwing him off balance. I used to joke with the directors that we had, I'd say, "I don't think Cobb ever sleeps." I think he's like, "What is going on?" constantly. Then when he goes to work, he has to kind of put on a different face, which the show is all about that for all the main characters.

He also tries to control it, prevent what he thinks is wrong, but you can't trust anyone. Everyone is three steps ahead or sometimes two steps behind because no one communicates clearly.

Mark O'Brien: No, and lives are at stake. So the stakes are very, very high. Not only that, but your global positioning [after] any kind of occurrence, like when they go to Slovakia and whatnot, there's so much on the line. That's what you want too, as an actor, and that's what makes good TV. You want heightened stakes. You want things that are big and putting yourself in that position of "What would I do?"

It is clear that your character's journey isn't finished. Where would you like to see him go if the story continues?

Mark O'Brien: I joked with Sinclair Daniel, who plays Parker. I said, "I want to be in that room with you guys, that control room, watching him do something." I want to do that. It's funny because Sinclair wants to get out and do fight scenes. And I was like, "No, I want to watch everyone on the screen." Something about that I'd like to do. There's so many possibilities with this show. If we're blessed with continuing the story, to be honest, I have such trust in the creators, in Jennifer [Yale] and Thomas [Brandon] and all the writers and the directors that I want to see what they come up with. I'm like an audience member. There's nothing too specific I've thought of. I'm just along for the ride, which is a great place to be.

I am hoping that it gets greenlighted and we see more of you in season two, because I couldn't get enough of it, and I wanted to see more of your character.

Mark O'Brien: Oh great. It's cool because he's kind of on an island in the first season. He's doing his own sort of thing, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be around too much. So I would like that too. The cast is so wonderful, and to share more time with them on camera would be a joy.

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The Copenhagen Test is now streaming on Peacock.

This interview was edited for clarity.