It’s been 20 years since Halle Berry backflipped into our hearts as NSA agent 'Jinx' Johnson in Die Another Day. The actress wasn’t just a ‘Bond girl’, she was a groundbreaking action hero in an era when very few black women headlined Hollywood movies. In honor of Black History month, SPYSCAPE salutes Berry and 15 badass actors who’ve shaken up the espionage genre with must-stream films.
Darrell M. Blocker once ran spies as an undercover CIA operations officer. Now he’s transferred his storytelling skills to Hollywood where he works on thrilling TV series like Condor and The Spook Who Sat by the Door. Blocker takes us behind the scenes in our SPYSCAPE interview, navigating the tricky world of writers’ rooms, pitches, and brainstorming sessions.
Sharpen your codebreaking skills with our weekly crosswords. We’ve even got a sneaky tip sheet to hone your tradecraft. Subscribe for free now and we’ll email a tricky puzzle to you every week.
Nelson C. Drummond was a US Navy yeoman, a gambler, and the first black American jailed as a US/Russian double agent. During the Cold War, the FBI uncovered invisible ink, hollowed-out magnets, and miniature cameras, but was Drummond actually passing NATO intel to Moscow? SPYSCAPE deep dives into the riveting spy trial splashed across front pages worldwide.
South African-born Bradley Steyn was part of a deadly culture of racial oppression during apartheid. He switched sides, however, knowing that as a white officer working as a double agent for Nelson Mandela’s ANC he’d either make the country a better place or end up with a bullet in the back of his head.
People always ask ex-FBI ‘Art Crime’ Special Agent Robert K. Wittman about the most valuable item he’s ever recovered. Was it the Rembrandt stolen from Sweden’s national museum? Nope. His top undercover operation actually involved a battle flag carried by an African-American regiment, the 12th regiment Corps d'Afrique.
James E. Amos wasn’t just President Theodore Roosevelt Jr.’s bodyguard. The sharp-shooter was among the first black FBI agents and the longest-serving in the Bureau’s history. Amos’ worked on crucial operations including the WWII-era arrest of 33 Nazi Germans, agents of the US-based Duquesne spy ring who inspired the Cary Grant movie The House on 92nd Street.
