FBI: INTERNATIONAL Post-Mortem: Christina Wolfe on Tate’s Complicated Undercover Mission, That Fight Sequence, and Her Season 4 Hopes

November 12, 2024 by Marisa Roffman

FBI International Christina Wolfe interview

“The Unwinnable War” – The deputy inspector general calls on Tate, who is fluent in Spanish, to take on her first undercover field mission, joining Wes and the team in Spain as they investigate a seemingly dirty U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent working out of Madrid, on FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesday, Nov. 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Bobby Soto as Agent Daniel Lopez and Christina Wolfe as Special Agent Amanda Tate. Photo: CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, November 12 episode of FBI: INTERNATIONAL.]

FBI: INTERNATIONAL’s Tate (Christina Wolfe) survived her first undercover mission with the Fly Team—but it was a close one.

After Tate needed to physically escalate her honeypot trap, she also had to fight to defend herself/save her own life…but, ultimately, the team was able to make their case. And, as a sign of confidence in her skills, Wes (Jesse Lee Soffer) made it clear she was welcome back in the field, if she wanted it.

Here, Wolfe talks with Give Me My Remote about filming “The Unwinnable War,” and her hopes for Tate this season.

Just to start with one of your biggest moments of the episode: What was it like filming that fight sequence?
Oh my goodness, I loved it. I really loved it. I love fight scenes. I just find them thrilling, and I like collaborating with the stunt team. We have a wonderful stunt coordinator, Ken Barefield, and the stunt team is so talented. I just love to watch them.

My favorite part is just coming into work, watching the fight that they’ve all choreographed, and you’re like, “Mmhm, and I’ll be doing that. Okay, so how?” And they break it down, and then you can do it, and it works. It’s really fun as a performer to be able to inhabit that element of the physical element of the job, too.

The downside is she was in the fight as her operation figuratively blew up. What was going through her mind as she was fighting for her life?
Well, first and foremost, it’s her daughter. Lily was front and center for her; it’s her main priority, and that’s why her distress word is [her daughter’s nickname] “Princess.” So I think she feels she needs to get to safety for her daughter.

She had also been warned by Wes that she couldn’t cross a physical line during the honeypot trap in order to keep their case on track—but she did have to break that rule. What went into that decision?
It goes back to that dilemma of which [path] is she going to choose? I do feel like in the moments in which she’s in danger, she feels regret because she could have said no to the case. She was given the option to and she decided to do it anyway. So if it goes wrong, it’s on her. In her mind, it would be on her. So it’s quite a tricky situation for her.

Ultimately, they were able to make their case and Wes left the door open for her to go back out in the field. In your mind, what would it take for her to be comfortable with that?
I think that she would have to feel that she wasn’t in genuine danger, and that if it was a dangerous situation, she had a way of exiting the situation. Or that she felt more physically trained to cope. She’s not armed in this episode, she didn’t expect for it to end in a physical fight. So I think in the next field mission, if there were to be one, she would need to have a bit more of a sense of safety and perhaps training. I think if she was to do something like this again, she would have to have a really strong emotional reason or a capability reason that she felt like she was absolutely able to do it.

Would her comfort level change if she had another teammate undercover? Or would it truly be just about being able to protect herself no matter what?
I think she would have to have one or the other. I don’t think she could go into a situation again where she felt exposed. So, yeah, maybe another teammate; that could work. Or just being armed in some way to feel like she was safer.

In what you’ve filmed so far, has she left the hub to do fieldwork?
That’s something that you’ll have to wait and see. [Laughs.]

“The Unwinnable War” – The deputy inspector general calls on Tate, who is fluent in Spanish, to take on her first undercover field mission, joining Wes and the team in Spain as they investigate a seemingly dirty U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent working out of Madrid, on FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesday, Nov. 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Christina Wolfe as Special Agent Amanda Tate and Bobby Soto as Agent Daniel Lopez. Photo: CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.

Looking at the episode as a whole, what was your favorite part to film?
It’s hard to pick one scene…but I really enjoyed my scenes with Bobby Soto, who played Lopez. I felt like he was a very interesting actor to work with; I really enjoyed those scenes. We had one in the restaurant, we had one in the car—there were a few scenes where we really got to talk about it and I think we collaborated well.

Milena Govich, who is an actor-director, directed this episode. What was it like working with her, especially on scenes where Tate was out of her element?
It’s so good; I really loved working with Milena. You just kind of have a shorthand, because she’s been in the same boat. It’s fun because you do approach it from an actor’s point of view if you’re a director who’s been an actor.

What can you share about the guidance she gave you here?
She was just very supportive. We explored different possibilities of how Tate would approach these situations, so she let me play with it; it was very collaborative. She’s a very collaborative director, and I really enjoyed working with her.

We would discuss, “Maybe, let’s try it this way”—because she’s playing a character, she’s undercover. And so I had the option of leaning into more of a damsel in distress or whether she would play a little bit more direct and confident. And so that was fun. And, actually, I’ve not seen the episode, so I still don’t know which way it ended up leaning. But it was fun to work that way.

Looking ahead, what are you most excited for fans to see that’s coming up for Tate?
Tate’s team is developing, and I feel like the hub team is working super well together. I think it’s exciting watching them work in such a cohesive, supportive way with each other.

Are we getting more backstory on them, or is it just seeing more of them on the job?
It’s more that we’re seeing how they solve cases together.

Personally, it feels like Tate has had romantic sparks with a couple of her teammates on the Fly Team. How much is that something you guys are aware of on-set, what conversations have you had with the writers about it, and is there anything actually brewing?
[Laughs.] Well, I don’t want to say anything that could get me in trouble. Um, I’ll say that I think it’s interesting that it is an avenue that could be explored. And I agree that there is that possibility out there. I mean, they work in such close quarters, and they’re saving each other’s lives. Things are bound to get personal.

Has there been anything concrete in what you’ve filmed or is it more subtext?
I’d say more in the subtext, but I don’t want to give away too much.

The team has changed a few times since you joined the show last season. What has that adjustment been like for you as a performer?
As a performer, new people coming in and out, it’s always going to cause a level of…new energies. And you just adapt. It’s fun working with different people and getting to know different people’s working styles.

Looking ahead, what are your big hopes for Tate this season?
I love her dynamic in the hub, so I really hope that continues. But I would also love for her to be able to prove herself again in the field because she’s obviously so capable. If only she had found a way to not feel so much guilt or fear about going to the field. That would be great to see her be able to transition into the field more easily, and kind of go back and forth. That would be really fun as a performer.

FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesdays, 9/8c, CBS

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FBI: INTERNATIONAL Post-Mortem: Christina Wolfe on Tate’s Complicated Undercover Mission, That Fight Sequence, and Her Season 4 Hopes

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