50 Fun Facts About The Blacklist
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Take the 50-question quizWho plays Raymond 'Red' Reddington?
He was cast just three days before filming began.
On which network did The Blacklist air from 2013 to 2023?
The pilot drew 12.6 million US viewers.
Who created the series?
John Eisendrath developed it and became sole showrunner after season eight.
What was Reddington's rank on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list when he surrendered?
He had vanished twenty years earlier after a career in US Naval Intelligence.
To whom does Reddington surrender in the pilot?
He walks into the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.
What are Reddington's two conditions for helping the FBI?
He will only say that the rookie profiler is 'very special'.
Who was the first name on the Blacklist, hunted in the pilot episode?
He is a Serbian terrorist, and catching him convinces Cooper to take Red's deal.
Who plays Elizabeth Keen?
She prepared a week for her audition and left the show after season eight.
What was Liz Keen's birth name?
Her mother, Katarina Rostova, was a KGB spy.
Who plays Tom Keen, Liz's husband with a secret past?
His character was born Christopher Hargrave and later went by Jacob Phelps.
Who plays Harold Cooper?
He said he would happily play Cooper into a twentieth season, like his favourite show Gunsmoke.
Which agent is the task force's cyber expert?
Amir Arison was promoted to the main cast after improvising brilliantly in his debut episode.
Which intelligence agency did Samar Navabi come from?
Her character was originally going to be named Tamar Kartzman.
Who is Dembe Zuma?
Red rescued him from traffickers in Kenya at 14; in season nine he becomes an FBI agent.
What is the real name of Mr. Kaplan, Red's 'cleaner'?
She had also once been Liz's nanny.
Which veteran actor played Fitch, a senior member of the Cabal?
David Strathairn played 'The Director', another Cabal leader.
Which actor played the season-one villain Berlin?
He continued into season two before departing midway.
What unusual interrogation methods does Teddy Brimley use?
He is played by Teddy Coluca.
What is Glen 'Jellybean' Carter's job for Reddington?
Actor Clark Middleton died of West Nile virus in 2020, and the show gave his character the same fate.
Who plays Marvin Gerard, Red's lawyer?
He debuted in a season-three episode named after the character.
Which real-life fugitive financier did Stacy Keach play in season six?
Vesco fled the US with $200 million and was rumoured to have died in 2007, amid theories he faked it.
Which of these actors was NOT approached for the role of Reddington before Spader?
Richard Gere was the fourth name on the list.
What costume piece did Spader insist on trying at the pilot screening, now part of Red's image?
His original pitch was for a bald or short-haired criminal in a hat; the producers had rejected it.
How was the season-seven finale completed after the pandemic shut down filming?
Only 19 of the planned 22 episodes were made; the rest rolled into season eight.
Where is The Blacklist actually filmed, despite being set in Washington, D.C.?
The task force headquarters is at Chelsea Piers, previously used by Law & Order.
How does Reddington die in the series finale?
Ressler discovers the body; the show never explained who Red really was.
How does Liz Keen die at the end of season eight?
The killer, Elias Vandyke, was a bodyguard for Neville Townsend.
Which congressman investigates the task force in the final season?
He is played by Toby Leonard Moore and grows suspicious of the unit's huge funding.
Where does Red promise to retire with his girlfriend at the start of season nine?
He breaks the promise once he starts running what is left of his empire again.
Which season-ten character is the daughter of season-one agent Meera?
She is an MI6 officer, played by Anya Banerjee.
What was the Tom Keen spin-off called?
It ran for eight episodes in early 2017 and was cancelled for low ratings.
Which two actors played Tom Keen's parents in the spin-off?
His mother Susan ran a security firm; his father Howard was presumed dead.
Roughly how much per episode did Netflix reportedly pay for the show in its 2014 deal?
It was the biggest overall streaming deal at the time.
Which episode aired after Super Bowl XLIX in 2015?
NBC used it to move the show from Mondays to Thursdays and ran a 'Red Is on the Run' scavenger hunt.
Which Broadway star played a blacklister in the show's 100th episode?
John Waters and Julian Sands appeared in that season's finale.
Which TV weatherman appeared as himself in the 150th episode?
The same season had a special episode partly based on Agatha Christie novels.
Which actress played Carla Reddington, one of Red's ex-wives, in season two?
Joely Richardson later played thief Cassandra Biancchi, an ex-girlfriend.
Which company published the official Blacklist comic series starting in 2015?
Titan also released two tie-in novels, The Beekeeper and The Dead Ring.
What was the 2016 mobile game based on the show called?
Gameloft released it for Android, iOS and Windows.
What is eventually revealed about the man calling himself Red?
The real Reddington died, likely at the hands of a young Elizabeth; the impostor's true identity is never given.
Which blackmail dossier is linked to the origin of the Blacklist?
Red uses it to exert influence over global affairs.
Which lawyer did The Blacklist's star play in The Practice and Boston Legal, winning three Emmys?
He also played Robert California in The Office.
Who directed the pilot episode?
He stayed on as an executive producer.
Where was the final episode filmed in April 2023?
The village is in Rockland County.
Who plays FBI special agent Donald Ressler throughout The Blacklist?
He joined the cast in March 2013 as a law-abiding field agent on Cooper's task force and discovers Red's body in the finale.
Roughly how many US viewers watched The Blacklist's 2013 pilot episode?
The strong start led NBC to expand the planned 13-episode first season to 22 episodes.
Who developed The Blacklist with creator Jon Bokenkamp and became sole showrunner after season eight?
Bokenkamp announced his departure in June 2021, a day after the season 8 finale.
Which former KGB spy is revealed to be Liz Keen's biological mother?
Lotte Verbeek played her in flashbacks; Laila Robins's Tatiana Petrova was assigned as her body double and manipulates Liz.
Which state does Senator Cynthia Panabaker, who handles the task force's legal affairs, represent?
Played by Deirdre Lovejoy from seasons three to ten, she was formerly a White House counsel.
Which three companies produced The Blacklist?
All four showrunners signed deals with Sony before the premiere; the show won one Creative Arts Emmy and was nominated for two Golden Globes.
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