Laura Regan Talks Fox’s ‘Minority Report,’ Putting A Spin on Spielberg’s Universe and What’s Next For the Series

Laura Regan. Photo: Marc Cartwright.

From its amazing gadgets, to it’s poignant storylines on crimes, free will and humanity, FOX’s Minority Report is a show you don’t want to miss (season one is currently screening on Hulu. Let the binge-watching games begin — well, after you read this interview!). The sci-fi drama picks up 10 years after Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed 2002 film and follows Detective Lara Vega, played by Meagan Goode, and the three Precognitives, who have been in hiding since the PreCrime program shut down. However, things don’t go as expected. Despite the program shutting down, crime has not stopped and neither have the Precogs’ visions, which means that Agatha, Arthur and Dash have found themselves entangled once again with the criminal justice system. Mad Men alumni, Laura Regan plays Agatha, the most powerful Precog. As the first season of the powerful drama winds down, Regan sat down with GALO to chat about Agatha’s motivations, where Minority Report is headed, and putting a spin on Spielberg’s universe.

Editorial Note: This interview was conducted in November, right before the season finale aired.

GALO: I really love Minority Report and what you guys have done with it. It’s so amazing to see how you’ve taken the film and really created a series that stands on its own. I especially love the various technologies that are incorporated throughout.

Laura Regan: Yes, there are some great technological things that we do. Some of the visual effects (like some of the things that we do with screens) are amazing. Also, do you know about that smart weapon?

GALO: Yes, the one that Lara Vega (Meagan Good) always has? That thing is super cool! Speaking of technology, what are some of your favorite gadgets from the show?

LR: Well, my straight up favorite would be that smart weapon that can sense people’s intent. I just think that in the current climate of police brutality, race relations and everything that is going on that that would be such a useful thing. And also the stun guns that they use as well, it just seems like much smarter technology and smarter policing weapons. Those are really cool — and, of course, the telepresence box that I pop out of all the time.

GALO: Yes! I think it was in the first or second episode when you first did that, and I was completely freaked out. I had no idea that your character was actually not there.

LR: It really would be kind of great, right?! I imagine if I could do that with my family who are on the other side of the continent, it would be great.

GALO: Oh, definitely. It’s much better than Skype or FaceTime.

LR: Yes, it’s literally another dimension, and it’s sort of the next frontier. I think it’s very realistic. I don’t know the technological side of it or how you would do it, but it does seem like the next step.

GALO: To go back to what you were saying about the weapons in Minority Report sensing human intent, obviously, PreCrime was not foolproof, which is why it was shut down. What are your thoughts on it? If it were real, do you think it could be beneficial to our society?

LR: Yes. I think the way the film explores things, it comes to the conclusion that people do have free will and [that] you can choose your own actions at any given time. There is no such thing as an actual set destiny that you can’t change — that I agree with. So, I think that, yes, it seems like a great idea. Being able to prevent violent crime would obviously be great, but I think the movie comes to that particular conclusion for a reason. Human beings have free will and they have the option at any given point to choose their next move. That’s where I come down.

GALO: Knowing the history behind the 2002 film Minority Report starring Tom Cruise, were you nervous at all about such a well-loved film being transformed for a television audience?

LR: Yes, definitely. I think we all have felt that pressure because it’s a well-loved and highly-regarded movie. It’s really a tough act to follow. And yet, we had this gift of the fact that our series is set 10 years later. I think that was really brilliant. I also think that the choice to follow the Precogs was really smart. [Laughs] I know that sounds selfish.

GALO: It was extremely smart!

LR: For me, in approaching my character Agatha, that 10 years of space was a complete gift, because as much as I honor and revere the character that Samantha Morton and Steven Spielberg created together, I needed to be able to make it my own somehow.

Agatha comes out of this half-alert, half-drugged place that she’s been in for 10 years, and then [she] begins her life as a woman for real. She could have gone in any number of different directions. So, it was my job to figure out what the legacy of her bizarre history would be, while dealing with this strange past that she has. It was really cool for me to be able to jump in at that point and think about what those integral 10 years would have been like for her. What’s the experience of being a Precog free in the world? You’re always being searched and hunted and having to hide your secret. And that is a very different Agatha, obviously, than what was in the film.

I think we all felt the pressure, for sure. However, at a certain point, we all had to make the decision of just making it our own. We’d been given the go-ahead by Steven Spielberg. He said, “Yes, this is the way to approach the material.” Plenty of people tried to adapt Minority Report to a series before, and he was never satisfied with the premise. But when we said the series must follow the Precogs 10 years later, he said, “Yes, that’s the way to go.” So at a certain point, you have to say, “he’s put his faith in us — let’s go for it and not be scared.”

L-R: Nick Zano, Laura Regan and Stark Sands in the “Everybody Runs” season finale episode of FOX’s Minority Report. Photo: Katie Yu /FOX. © 2015 FOX Broadcasting Co.

GALO: Agatha is such an interesting character. At first, you think that she just doesn’t want to expose herself or her abilities. However, as you move through the episodes, you come to see that she has her own demons. And not only that, but she’s willing to go out on a limb for the people she really cares about. Can you talk a bit more about that, and how is she different from all of the previous characters that you’ve played in your career?

LR: Oh, she’s so different. Well, first of all, like you said, she’s willing to go out on a limb. [Laughs] That’s the best euphemism ever. She holds no bars. But if anything, I think at the beginning of the series, she seems like a recluse, or someone who might be frightened or scared. And she is — she’s very protective of her freedom. Her relatively newfound freedom is her number one priority. She feels she’s given enough of her life to the PreCrime program, and she does not want to be captured again and held captive. However, you do start to see that she has her own agenda and her own way of protecting herself. She definitely wants to control her brothers, and she can’t really, but there is a certain sense in which they do kind of bow [down] to her and cede to her a little bit.

GALO: Yes, she is sort of their mother figure in a way.

LR: Yes, I am a little bit, but also because I have the greater power of sight. Agatha sees more into the future; she sees the bigger picture. That’s just the way it is. The twins depend on each other; they each get half a picture. I get the whole thing, so I am able to see how people are going a little bit better than them, and that makes me feel a little superior. And, you know, she definitely holds that over them a little bit, and they don’t totally respect it.

GALO: [Laughs] That’s such typical sibling rivalry.

LR: Regardless, compared to other characters that I’ve played, Agatha has just this complete willingness to stop at nothing, to have no options left at the table. When she deals with Charlie (William Mapother), for instance, in episodes three and four, she sends him on a mission. And this is my view of it, the way that I wanted to play it, she sends him on a mission and he delivers what she needs. She uses her blackmailing tactics for wherever she needs him to go; it’s a dangerous mission. He comes back and gives her what she wants, and she’s willing to let him go free. In that scene in the diner, he’s the one who turns on her and says, “Wait a minute, I don’t want to just go free. I want my money back as well.” He thinks that he has something on her. She knows that the U.S. Marshals are there, but she kind of figures, “look, I was going to give you a head start. You were going to run, but now you’re just trying to play this game with me.” I feel like a lot of people feel like Agatha purposely had him murdered.

GALO: Really? I didn’t view it that way.

LR: I feel like she was like, “look, you’re the one who is wasting time here. They’re on their way, so you need to run.”

GALO: And you know what, those were the consequences of Charlie’s actions.

LR: Exactly, she’s not going to waste any tears on that. I love that about her. I mean, that love, it’s not real to everyday life, but that’s what’s great about drama, acting, sci-fi and television. That’s what’s so cool and so extreme about it. Agatha is very black and white, and she has her own particular moral code that wouldn’t be one that would function very well in the real world, but it functions in the world of the story.

Minority Report: Laura Regan in FOX’s Oct. 26 “Fiddler’s Neck” episode of Minority Report. © 2015 FOX Broadcasting Co. Photo: Michael Caulfield/FOX.

GALO: Well, there’s just so much happening in our world that we don’t know where we’re headed.

LR: Yes, exactly.

GALO: I know that you have so much going on with Minority Report by itself, but can you reveal anything about any new upcoming projects that you may have in the works? 

LR: Well, I can’t reveal anything about new upcoming projects. We’re still waiting to hear about what’s next for Minority Report. One of the most important things that I will say about the finale of this season is that it will truly be shocking. When I read it on the page, I got to the end of the episode and I was like, “WHAT!?”

GALO: And that’s November 30 right?

LR: Correct, that will be November 30. It will kind of be a two-part finale, episodes nine and ten are very closely linked. It’s an ending that I never foresaw, and it fits in with Agatha’s vision that she’s been seeing. She’s been seeing Vega. Lots of people have been speculating, and this is the good thing about Twitter. You hear the fans on Twitter saying, “well, maybe [they’ll] do this, maybe [they’ll] do that.” However, no one has touched upon what’s actually going to happen yet. I actually don’t think you could guess. So, it’s a really, really great ending to this season, and I don’t think that it will leave fans feeling unsatisfied. It will be very satisfying, interesting and buzzed about. So that’s what I’m really looking forward to, watching that with everybody.

GALO: Fantastic. We can’t wait to see it.

LR: And just in my life personally, I’m very invested in the UN Climate Talks in Paris starting November 30. I’m just personally following it very closely, because I think it’s our best chance to get all of the countries in the world on the same path and in really fighting climate change. That’s just something that I’m really interested in, and it doesn’t have anything to do with my work. It’s just a crucial turning point. Hopefully, we can turn things around.

GALO: Yes, that is extremely important.

LR: So, yes, that’s all I have on my mind at the moment.

GALO: Well, thank you so much, it was wonderful speaking with you.

LR: Thank you so much.

For more information about Laura Regan and her endeavors, you can follow her on Twitter @TheLauraRegan.

Featured image: “Minority Report”: Laura Regan in FOX’s Oct. 19 “The Present” episode of “Minority Report.” © 2015 FOX Broadcasting Co. Photo: Katie Yu/FOX.