DO THEY LOOK LIKE TERRORISTS?

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

``Forget the show - reality itself is unnerving,'' says Oded Fehr, who stars as an Islamic extremist in Showtime's incendiary series ``Sleeper Cell,'' about a small band of terrorists hidden in plain sight on the streets of Los Angeles.

``When we think, 'This is as far as they would go,' they go further. We never thought they would kill themselves. We never thought they would get women involved, and they have.''

In the series, which debuts on Sunday, Michael Ealy stars as Darwyn, an earnest Muslim undercover FBI agent who infiltrates an L.A. sleeper cell run by the cannily charismatic Farik (Fehr). Alex Nesic, Henri Lubatti and Blake Shields play other members of the cell, of French, Bosnian and American backgrounds, respectively.

The series was created by screenwriters Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (``Bulletproof Monk''). Voris says, ``The theme of the show is, at the very least, 'know your enemy.' If people are trying to kill you, find out why, even if you'll never agree or they're sociopaths, because it helps you fight them.''

``We were looking to craft three-dimensional human beings across a spectrum of characters - all ready, willing and probably able to commit these heinous, destructive acts,'' Reiff adds.

With such intentions, Voris concedes, ``This show, from the critical side, there's going to be people on both sides of the ideological spectrum who won't like it. I don't know if audiences will embrace it or freak out.''

Voris and Reiff also conceived ``Sleeper Cell'' as a response to films and TV series that trod tremulously around the ugly truths of 9/11.

``All these various American TV shows found it impossible to deal head-on with real enemy Islamic extremist terrorists,'' Reiff says, adding, ``It was inevitable, in a country where pop-culture garners so much attention out of proportion to its actual importance, that this would creep back into popular culture.''

The two were assiduous in recruiting both experts in counterterrorism and Islam and in hiring Muslim writers and crew members.

``I was very, very concerned that we got it right,'' says Ealy. ``This series didn't pull any punches. I don't feel you can deal with such volatile subject matter and be conservative about it.''

Ealy adds that while creating his character, ``What I came up with is that Darwyn is the wrong guy for this assignment. He's a Muslim, so that's the strangest contradiction. If you're undercover in the FBI, you have to be a good liar. And then I sat with the Islamic consultant and learned you're not supposed to lie; it's a very disciplined faith.

``To me, that was the tightrope to walk on - how do you maintain that element of his personal integrity as a peace-loving Muslim with these extremists without getting yourself killed? It's an absolutely awful conundrum. I learned from this show, I don't want to work for the FBI. I thought I was a good actor, but I would not be good undercover. Having integrity can get you killed.''

For his part, Fehr had to struggle with his own moral integrity - he was born in Israel - to accept the role of an anti-Semitic terrorist. ``Being associated with that type of character ... (is) scary, because more in TV than in movies, people associate you with the character you play. I couldn't be more distant from that character; to be associated with it is something I'd rather not happen. But weighing that against the opportunity to play a really challenging role and fantastic material that is close to me, growing up in the Middle East - it was a great challenge as an actor.''

Experts recruited for the series were taken seriously, which isn't always the norm for a TV series, where the level of technical accuracy often ends at how to hold a firearm.

``On '24,' Jack Bauer kills 30 people an episode, and there are no repercussions,'' Voris says. ``In our pilot, when Darwyn is faced with blowing his cover, that became a huge issue. Our technical advisers told us that (the government) would want to shut the thing down. So that became a plot point for us - it wouldn't get shut down only if the situation was bigger than they suspected. Every script went through two or three law-enforcement tech advisers and an Islamic tech adviser, so it took much longer, vetting them through all these sources.''

In another episode, Farik's group tries to smuggle anthrax into America in a recreational vehicle. ``Our experts told us the easiest thing to get across the border without checking is a mobile home with a family inside,'' Voris says.

He adds, ``We were concerned that the show be realistic as possible, but we don't want it to be a handbook for terrorists. They know far more than we do, but we need be responsible. So we would find out the real thing and then slightly alter certain details,'' so they couldn't be readily emulated.

Ealy admits his time with the experts was sobering. ``The fact that the FBI consultants could not tell us for sure if there were real sleeper cells in this country - that they were not permitted to tell - that was pretty sobering,'' he says.

``But the most sobering factor in this show is that they are among us,'' he adds. ``It may seem improbable to think that they are among us and they are assimilating into our culture. If anything, this show demonstrates how they would do it. Talk to anyone who knew one of the 19 (9/11 terrorists), and they say, 'He went bowling.' 'He wore Hawaiians shirts.' 'He seemed the nicest guy.' That's what is terrifying.''

What might be terrifying for Showtime is the fact that FX's recent ripped-from-the-headlines series, the Iraqi War drama ``Over There,'' failed to muster many viewers, despite its timeliness and critical acclaim. But Reiff takes pains to separate the two series.

``In interviews for that show, (executive producer Steven) Bochco distinctly refused to discuss his position on the war,'' says Reiff. ``We didn't filter ourselves in any way, shape or form. We went at this with every ounce of belief, anger and passion regarding this material.

``Another big advantage we have,'' Reiff adds, ``is that our show takes place over here. Literally. Outside your window, in your local mall, at your local diner. There's no way we could make a calculated political choice.''

David Kronke,[phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

SLEEPER CELL

What: Controversial drama about a Muslim FBI agent undercover in a Los Angeles Islamic extremist terrorist group plotting an attack.

Where: Showtime.

When: Part 1: 10 and 11 p.m. Sunday. Part 2-4: 10 and 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. (Episodes 1 and 2 repeat 8 p.m. Thursday; episodes 3 and 4 repeat 8 p.m. Friday; all repeat 8 p.m.-midnight Saturday. Episodes 5-8 play out the same way the week of Dec. 11-17. Two-hour finale airs 8 and 10 p.m. Dec. 18.)

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- cover -- color) SLEEPERS

Showtime series looks at terrorism waiting to happen

(5) Henri Lubatti, left, Michael Ealy, Alex Nesic, Blake Shields and Oded Fehr are part of a would-be L.A. terrorist group in ``Sleeper Cell,'' though one of them is an undercover FBI agent.