‘Ironbark’ star Merab Ninidze on his role in the period drama and working with the 'wonderful' Rachel Brosnahan
The much-awaited American-British film ‘Ironbark’ premiered on January 24 at Sundance. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead as British spy Greville Wynne and Rachel Brosnahan as the CIA official Emily Donovan. The movie also stars the Georgian actor Merab Ninidze, who plays the role of a Russian colonel Oleg Penkovsky, whose blind devotion for his country is overpowered by his determination to stop the war.
Ninidze met with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) at the Sundance Film Festival 2020, during which he spoke about his role in ‘Ironbark’ and also discussed working with Brosnahan. When asked what was the most surprising bit about his role, Ninidze responded saying it was surprising because he was not playing so much of the period kind of time. "It was set up in the sixties and the strength of the character is where he comes from, his background and what he does actually forms part of the film and the story," he said.
Talking about starring alongside Brosnahan, he further added, “It was more than lovely. It was wonderful, generous, beautiful and just great.”
Ninidze is best known for playing Walter Redlich in ‘Nowhere in Africa’. He made his debut in films with ‘Repentance’ in 1984, which racked up three prizes at the 40th Cannes Film Festival. He has also appeared in films such as 'The Rainbowmaker’, ‘Deutschland’, ‘Berlin Station’, ‘Under Electric Clouds’ and ‘Jupiter’s Moon’.
‘Ironbark’ has opened to a great response and has garnered impressive reviews. Cumberbatch has delivered a brilliant performance in the lead role. The official synopsis of ‘Ironbark’ reads, “Ironbark tells the "true story of the British businessman who helped the CIA penetrate the Soviet nuclear program during the Cold War. Wynne and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky (codenamed Ironbark), provided crucial intelligence that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis."