There’s not much about Serenity that can be classified as typical. First of all, it’s a Western – in space. The hero of the piece doesn’t believe in anything and his crew members are technically the bad guys in the new world order imposed by the Alliance. With expectations already turned upside-down, it makes perfect sense that the ‘villain’ of Serenity also defies science fiction rulebook conventions. There’s no snarling, drooling alien from Planet X chasing River Tam across the universe. Rather, the agent of evil is The Operative, a very human, civil, well-spoken agent dispatched by the Alliance to retrieve River through any means necessary. He’s a man of unshakable conviction, with beliefs that are so unshakeable that he’s literally willing to kill anyone to ensure his vision of a better world. Played with gentle menace by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Operative is a truly frightening nemesis because of his disturbingly justifiable reasoning. It’s that duality that immediately attracted the actor, known primarily for more real-world based projects, to the role. “I hadn’t envisioned doing sci-fi,” Ejiofor admits. “I didn’t know much about Serenity. I hadn’t seen Firefly. When I first heard about the film, all I knew about was the reputation of Joss, which is an extraordinary one. I was excited to see what it was all about. I got the tapes for Firefly and I remember watching them for hours and I was totally hooked. I thought it was brilliant. Then I got the script for Serenity and it was profound and moving and exciting, all rolled into one.”
    Despite the genre label, Ejiofor says the story blew him away. “The fact that it transcends genre is very intriguing. I think the script has so many interesting touch-points. The major concepts of the film are the interpersonal relationships between the people and the interpersonal relationships that people have with the larger implications of their society. In that context, it’s very much about how we live, a very contemporary piece. It transcends genre in a very spectacular way.”
    A veteran of the British stage and critically acclaimed films like Dirty Pretty Things and Amistad, Ejiofor is still a relative unknown to the majority of movie audiences. Whedon, however, was familiar with his work and approached the actor early on to play The Operative. “We just had a chat,” Ejiofor remembers about their first meeting. “I didn’t audition for the part. I read the script and I knew that he was interested in casting me. I met him at Universal and we had a very good conversation. I think we both felt we approached him from the same sort of angle, which was with an alternative villain-esque quality.”
    Ejiofor was eventually awarded the role and the two men set about really developing the character. “I think it was a dual process of working out how The Operative was affecting the story and also, figuring out how to bring to life a very original quality in him. Those were the two challenges. Neither of us wanted to have a formal villain set-up, with a predictable chase element. What we were trying to achieve is that the story of The Operative is interesting in itself. When he arrives, you are just as intrigued by what his personal motivations are and how it affects the plot and the good guys and the bad guys. Trying to mine this character, his past and his belief in structure, we were able to arrive at a character that is interesting on many levels. He didn’t functionally just fill the bracket of the nasty chap.”
    “He does very, very, very terrible things,” the actor admits. “But it’s interesting that one of the major reasons why he does these things is because he is a believer, which in the story, is what all the people are trying to work out. The Operative believes the Alliance and that makes him very powerful. The only time he becomes vulnerable to the rest of the gang is when they take on beliefs. It works as a metaphor for the power of belief.”
    In bringing to life the mannerisms and look, Ejiofor donned a tailored uniform and a very quiet, respectful countenance that is immediately at odds with his brutal actions. He’s an engaging enigma of an adversary – exactly what the actor was going for. “I think if the character works, then an audience has a very strange reaction to him. I think part of that reaction is real disgust, but also sort of being interested. I was keen to push the limits of his brutality to make it clear that this person was prepared to do deeply unpleasant things, but also confront the fact that he has qualities that maybe people would like.”
    “I think there was always the idea that The Operative was very kind in a special way,” Ejiofor continues with a chuckle. “Even in the act of murder, he is very polite without being sinister or arch. It’s actually genuine and I think that’s what made the character unique. It’s not a schtick. He’s genuinely regretful about having to kill these people, but at the same time, he is absolutely going to do it. I feel that duality was something that we were eager to explore and bring to the character.”
    Ejiofor says that he bonded with the cast, especially his on-screen nemesis, Nathan Fillion. “We ended up hanging out quite a lot and discussing the characters while stretched out in pools in Los Angeles,” he laughs. “We’d start at one end to make it to the beer at the other end and we often worried we wouldn’t quite make it. We had a great friendship, so it was fun doing those fight scenes. The Operative’s ideas of Mal develop over the course of the film. He starts off considering him to be completely insignificant and ends up with a great deal of respect for him. It was great to play that out with Nathan.”
    Now, months after production ahs finished, Ejiofor is working In New York City on a new Spike Lee film and eagerly awaits the public reaction to Serenity. He thinks mainstream audiences will be as pleasantly surprised by the film as he was. “What I really enjoyed watching it, was exactly what I enjoyed about reading it. From the moment it begins, it starts to ratchet up this tension and momentum, which it never lets go of, leading to the incredible last half hour when everything is unleashed. It’s very rare to watch a film you’ve been involved in and abandon yourself to it completely and I was able to do that watching the film.” He’s also just coming to grips with how changed his world is about to become now that he’s part of the Mutant Enemy universe. “I was buying something the other day from the Apple store and somebody came up to me and told me, ‘You can’t stop the signal…’” Ejiofor laughs incredulously and adds with a smile, “I’m growing aware that there is whole other angle to this.”