The idea of a terrorist cell operating on U.S. soil just might be nightmare #1 on the list of worst case scenarios, and in the riveting drama Sleeper Cell, it seems all too chillingly real. Michael Ealy plays Darwyn Al-Hakim, an African-American Muslim and deep cover FBI agent who infiltrates a Los Angeles-based multi-ethnic terrorist group headed by Faris-Al Farik, an Arab extremist posing as a Jew, played by Israeli actor Oded Fehr.
“These terrorists are among us and that’s what’s terrifying. They’re blending into our culture. You just don’t know,” says Ealy, who read the Qu’ran and met with Muslim consultants, former FBI agents and an ex-Army Ranger to prepare for his role.
The terrorists include a Frenchman, a Bosnian and a blond, blue-eyed American, emphasizing that evil comes in many guises. “The show is a pretty balanced portrayal of what’s really out there,” says co-creator Cyrus Voris, adding that having a Muslim hero in Darwyn and other characters such as an Arab-American FBI agent break stereotypes about followers of Islam. “It creates an awareness that not only Arab-Americans or people of Arab descent should be stopped at airports,” notes Ealy.
Farik, however, is the epitome of malevolence. “Playing such a bad human being was very scary for me,” admits Fehr, who hesitated to take the role but is glad accepted the challenge. As an Israeli, he “grew up knowing about terrorism every day and all of us deal with it right now. People don’t know anything about it other than what they see on the news. We’d rather forget about it but it’s right there, around us all the time.”
Sleeper Cell is airing in various timeslots and will have its season finale Dec. 18.
