Charlie Cox Knew This Character in ‘Treason’ Had to Die
Charlie Cox’s new Netflix series, Treason, ends with an unexpected twist. And as Cox recently revealed, he had an inkling the character would die early on.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the final episode of Treason.]
Charlie Cox didn’t want to know the entire story until he started filming ‘Treason’
In Treason, Cox plays Adam Lawrence, an MI6 deputy director that gets an unexpected promotion when his boss is poisoned. The show follows Adam as he uncovers a Russian plot to implant a new prime minister, all while his wife tips off the CIA. In the finale, Adam is shot by a CIA agent and presumed dead.
But Cox wasn’t particularly keen on learning his character’s fate before filming. And he admitted that he likes to approach his roles with some sense of mystery.
“I don’t like to be told the whole story before we start,” Cox said in a chat with GQ. “I like to read the episodes when they’re available — I like to read the episodes like an audience member because I think it can be informative.”
“You get to feel, to some degree, what the audience should be feeling, and sometimes that can be relevant to your performance,” he added. “So when we first started shooting I’d only read the first three. I didn’t get four or five until a month or so into filming.”
Charlie Cox was pitched the idea of the ‘Treason’ death early on
Cox didn’t know exactly how the Treason finale would play out until midway through filming the season. But showrunners did pitch him the idea of Adam’s murder early on.
“I knew it was a possibility,” he told GQ. “I knew it was on the cards, you can tell by the contract, you know.”
But Cox noted that writers weren’t sure about Adam’s death early on. So he thought there was a chance his character would be saved.
“As the episodes are coming in and you’re getting to watch what you’ve already shot, there is a fluidity to the writing process,” the actor explained in an interview with Metro. “The episodes that haven’t been finalized yet, can live and breathe in and can be adapted relative to what you’ve already shot if it seems to make sense.”
“There was a conversation at some point where we were thinking of a season two and how could we have Adam come back?” Cox continued. “Maybe we don’t kill him or maybe he survives? All those kinds of things.”
Netflix decided to kill Adam off at the end of ‘Treason’
Early in production, Treason writers were unsure of Adam’s fate. But at Netflix’s behest, they ultimately killed the character off. And as Cox recalled, it was showrunner Matt Charman that gave him the news.
“Matt called me and he was like, ‘So I just got off the phone with Netflix and as much as they love you, it’s like, we need you to die,'” Cox shared with Metro. “‘So it was always part of the plan. Please don’t read into it. But we are going to see Adam’s demise.'”
“And I was like, ‘Great, well then season two can be a prequel then maybe,'” he added.
A Treason Season 2 renewal hasn’t been announced. But with Cox gearing up for his upcoming Marvel series, Daredevil: Born Again, it’s safe to assume he won’t return when and if the show is renewed.
Treason is currently streaming on Netflix.
