Ex-kid star Gabriel Basso gets tough in spy thriller ‘The Night Agent’

Gabriel Basso stars as an FBI agent who lands in hot water in his new Netflix thriller “The Night Agent.”

 “I don’t think I’ve ever played a character like this as an adult,” Basso, 28, told The Post.

“I was a child actor, really [before]. So, all I had to do was be a kid. This was the first role as an adult where I sort of was put in positions that I hadn’t been in before — a lot of action stuff, which was cool, because I love all that.” 

Based on a novel by Matthew Quirk, “The Night Agent,” was created by Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) and follows Peter Sutherland (Basso), a low-level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning an emergency hotline for American spies that never rings. 

When the phone mysteriously breaks its silence one night, it sends Peter into dangerous uncharted waters, and he must work to protect a civilian, Rose (Luciane Buchanan, “Sweet Tooth” ) while also uncovering a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Oval Office. 

“When I had initially sat down with Shawn [Ryan], he was talking about how grounded he wanted to make it, and how interested in character he was over the big plot and action, how it was all character motivated,” said Basso.

“I thought that was unique within the genre. In action, it sometimes feels gratuitous. It was nice to hear that his vision for it was character-based, and not so much stimulus based.

“I think Peter’s perseverance in the face of adversity is admirable, and I liked that about him. Often, people nowadays give up, in conflict. Especially when there’s not a lot of incentive to continue,” he said. “But it was nice to see someone who isn’t untouchable in fights — he’s not Superman, he gets beat up, he has to rely on others around him, to some extent. But the real drive comes from within, in pursuit of truth, and not what he’s told to believe. He just wants to know what’s actually happening.”

Basso has been working since he was a kid (appearing in episodes of “iCarly” and ABC’s “The Middle”) and he’s had roles in a variety of projects, from Showtime’s “The Big C” to the comedy-drama film “The Kings of Summer,” to the JJ Abrams sci-fi /adventure movie “Super 8.”

He also played JD Vance in “Hillbilly Elegy,” starring alongside Amy Adams and Glenn Close.

But “The Night Agent” marks Basso’s first starring role in a series.

“Physically, I try to stay in shape, and I enjoy training in real life outside of acting. So, that transition was seamless,” he said. “But the acting thing — it had been a while since I had worked [for pandemic-related reasons]. So, I wasn’t nervous, but I was just preparing myself for the amount of work. I remember watching Laura Linney on ‘The Big C’ and seeing how much she had to do as number 1. She was always working, and professional. So that was my biggest concern, being put into a position that I hadn’t been in before –can I perform with all the extra pressure?

“I think what’s cool is that I can just sort of move now, wherever I fit,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of just being an action guy. I have other interests in my life: I draw; I play drums and violin. Creativity is much more multi-faceted for me than ‘go be an actor.’ I would get bored with just being an action guy, so it’s nice to have other genres I can step in and out of. The stunt coordinator was very obliging to me, because he saw that I was just chomping at the bit to be involved in the stunts.

“He let me do a lot of stuff they said they wouldn’t let other actors do.”