Molina tackles tough spy role in new miniseries

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‘Sir, sir, is there going to be a war?’
Molina brought his own Cold War-era memories to “The Company,” including a vivid one from his childhood in England about America’s failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

“I remember rushing into school, terribly excited, and saying, ‘Sir, sir, is there going to be a war?’ Not thinking about the consequences but just terribly excited about the idea, like a 10-year-old would be,” he said.

Molina grew up in a political household. His father was a refugee from the Spanish Civil War, where he had fought against the Nationalists who were supported by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, and was a staunch communist.

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“I remember my father having rather serious, heated discussions with his brother ... and saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ and being told, ‘Shush, this is grown-up talk.”’

Molina’s father and Italian-born mother settled comfortably into English life. But the actor has found America to be a better fit, personally and professionally. He and wife Jill Gascoine have lived here for 14 years and he’s become an American citizen.

“The English have an interesting knack of, no matter how English you are, always finding a way to remind you that you’re not. And it’s all very polite .... People will say, ‘Molina, is that Italian? Oh, Spanish. How interesting.”’

“What they’re saying is, ‘You’re a foreigner, even though you think you’re not.’ Here, where you come from is of no consequence because it’s essentially a meritocracy. It’s whether you can do the job or not.”

He’s even gotten to play, of all things, Englishmen, something denied him in his native country.

“It all fell into place here,” Molina said.

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