Famke Janssen — whom we know best as Wolverine’s love interest, the telekinetic Jean Grey, in the X-Men films — is the face of The Blacklist: Redemption, the spin-off of TRP-topper The Blacklist, starring James Spader. Janssen, 52, plays Susan Scott “Scottie” Hargrave, a no-nonsense corporate honcho with many secrets of her own. t2 caught up with the former model on the show (Season I of The Blacklist: Redemption airs every Friday at 8pm on Colors Infinity) that’s been creating quite a buzz.

Have you been a fan of The Blacklist and what was your reaction when you were told the show was having a spin-off and you would play its lead?

Well, I sat down with the show runners last year at some point to discuss a potential role on the actual Blacklist, but they couldn’t find a role strong enough for me to play, but then they were developing The Blacklist: Redemption and they came to me ultimately and said: ‘We would love you to play Scottie Hargrave. We’re going to introduce your character on the last two episodes of The Blacklist and then we are going to test it and if it does well, we’ll pick it up with the idea of making The Blacklist: Redemption’. So it was always with the idea of making this spin-off. We’ve just completed filming in America, we’ve shot all eight episodes and six of them have aired so far and it was well received and I’m proud of the show

Is this your first lead TV role?

I’ve done a couple of years on television. I did three years on a show called Hemlock Grove. That was a NetFlix show, so I was the lead there. I’ve done guest appearances on Nip/Tuck and How to Get Away With Murder and things like that, but I come from a film background.

What is it like working on TV? You have been a film star for a long time and now you are the lead on a TV show....

It’s a fantastic role. I love the character of Scottie Hargrave. Television definitely works differently from film. You don’t know the whole character, or character arc up front. It’s a little bit challenging at times I find, as I have to create a character only knowing part of who she is and then having to find out along with everyone else more about her. It was much faster in terms of how you film than a movie ever is. So it’s just a different way of working, but I really love it, I’m having a great time.

Is there a point where Famke and Scottie meet or did you choose to play her primarily because she’s so different from who you are?

She’s such an interesting woman. Her characteristics are so strong and vulnerable at the same time. It was that dichotomy in her personality that I really wanted to put on the screen because it’s rare you get to play somebody that’s strong and vulnerable. She’s very damaged and a bit quirky because she likes to talk about her struggle at inopportune moments, but she’s very soft and vulnerable… so it’s a really nice combination to create for a character.

This seems to be a physically demanding role. What do you do to keep fit?

I work out, but I mostly do dance and Pilates… those are my two go-to things that I do for workouts. It’s really more for how it makes me feel mentally, rather than physically. I’m blessed that I don’t have to work out that much to keep my body in shape. That’s just natural genetics.

You’re lucky!

Yeah, very lucky! I can thank my parents and my grandparents for that, so that’s wonderful. In terms of the physicality, I’m really not physical on the show... you’ll see on episode 7/8 something happens where there’s a moment of physicality, but it’s not a physical role. I don’t go running around in the field. I’m dressed in beautiful dresses and I walk around my office and all that.

What are you getting to do now on the show as Scottie Hargrave that you didn’t get to do as Jean Grey from X-Men?

Oh, they are very different characters. With Scottie Hargrave, I get much more time to explore her. I have been in the X-Men movies, but they’re about so many different characters too. Scottie Hargrave is just very unique because she runs a company, privately owned, that the government can’t touch and has a bunch of mercenaries working for her. She also has a very complicated private life with a husband who she thought was dead and a son who went missing when he was three and all sorts of intrigue going on that’s related to those two… so she’s very strong on the one hand and very, very vulnerable on the other.

You’ve had a long journey through film and television. When you look back, how has the journey been for you?

The journey as an actor, in general, has been great. I’ve had a very varied career. I’ve been very lucky to have wonderful parts in great movies... GoldenEye (where she played henchwoman and murderer Xenia Onatopp) and all the X-Men movies, and then, smaller independent movies. I’ve been able to work with Woody Allen and Robert Altman. I’ve worked on television and features, so looking back, it’s been a very exciting journey.

Priyanka Roy