The Americans Actress on Her New Movie and X-Files Role

The actress on her new movie, working with Mulder and Scully and what's next for The Americans' Nina. By Eric Goldman

Known for her role as Nina on FX’s fantastic spy drama, The Americans, Annet Mahendru is starring in the new independent film, Sally Pacholok, playing the title character – a real life nurse who made a medical discovery with life-saving consequences. The next few months are notable for Mahendru, who also has an important guest role in the revival of The X-Files on FOX in January, along with returning for The Americans’ fourth season, debuting in March.

While the film hasn’t yet opened to general audiences, this Wednesday night, Mahendru will be appearing at a screening of Sally Pacholok in Los Angeles – tickets can be purchased here – and I spoke to the actress about her new movie, what we should expect from her X-Files character and the ever-evolving situation for Nina on The Americans.

Note: This interview is a condensed version of two conversations I had with Mahendru.

IGN: For those who don't know the true story of Sally Pacholok, how would you describe both the woman you're playing and the movie about her?

Annet Mahendru: She is probably the most passionate woman that I've ever met. She was an emergency room nurse who ran into people being tested for MRIs and diagnosed with either diabetes or MS or any of those horrifying, debilitating diseases. She had discovered that some of those cases had been misdiagnosed and it's just a B12 deficiency. Especially in the emergency room, doctors don't do that test. It's the cheapest test. It's maybe the least important test to do, and it sounds silly, but to lack a mineral and something so primordial as vitamin B can cause death. It can make you handicapped, and it affects babies to elderly people. People don't test for it, and the testings aren't up to date. She's been an advocate for all of that. So she's really trying to change the standards of healthcare. She has a campaign that she has, and she's the coauthor of two books: What's Wrong with My Child, and Could It Be B12? She's helped a lot of people. The director of this movie [Elissa Leonard] has been affected by it too, and it has affected her health in a physical way. So she's also an advocate. She is an upper-class woman who has had all the best doctors and best healthcare but was not treated for B12, and that's what she needed. It has handicapped her.

Annet Mahendru in Sally Pacholok.

IGN: So this is quite a personal story for her.

Mahendru: Yes, many years later, she had come across Sally Pacholok's book, and she'd made a documentary, about five years ago, and she realized she needs to go up another level, so we made this movie together. It's a whistleblower romance about Sally Pacholok's story and how -- out of her frustrations and witnessing this epidemic -- she's done something great and written a book and educated people. It’s just a really moving story. Everything as a storyteller… This is why I tell stories, because of a story like this. So it was a big challenge for me to capture her spirit and to enlighten this. So I'm trying to do that now continuously. There's no end to that, I guess, to stories like this.

IGN: Not only are you playing a real person, but you're playing a person that you've interacted with and you know is going to see the movie. So is that extra nerve-racking, or is does that give you even more energy going into the project?

Mahendru: Well, she came to set. We were shooting, and she was right there, and I could hear her voice. I was like, "Oh my God!" It wasn't just my imagination anymore, you know? For other stories I can just imagine whatever I want. This is real. This is hardcore. Like, [The Americans’] Nina is always on the borderline; she's always about to die. Here, it's serious; this story involves other people, this kind of life and death. Sally, the person I'm playing, is the one who is helping prevent death and pain and all those horrible things. And yet she's just a nurse and these doctors don't want to listen to her, and she had to make them listen. It was really powerful and very challenging. I really hope it gets through. It's starting to see the light, and we're invited to these screenings now, on the east coast mostly, so things are starting to happen, which makes me really happy. Because people need to see it. It's a fun movie to watch. It's a movie of love, and it's a movie of a journey of health, which is the most important thing, you know?

IGN: And you'll be at the screening this coming Wednesday in LA, right?

Mahendru: I will, and the director will be there. We had sold-out screenings in Sally's hometown. In DC, we had nearly a full theater, and I was there for it. Patients come, all sorts of people come -- everyone's always seeking the truth. It's amazing. It's amazing that it can do something. It can change a life for someone. It's really incredible. I'm very happy to see that. This movie directly impacts people, and that's the most gratifying thing for me as an artist.

IGN: So let me ask, what’s it like to be a part of The X-Files now, knowing that there's so much excitement about it coming back?

Mahendru: Oh my God, it's unbelievable. It's a dream. I feel like I got kidnapped for a month when I went to Vancouver. I just felt like I was somewhere else; it wasn't real. It felt like an abduction -- a good one! I'm in a special club now, you know? That's what it felt like. Everyone's stoked. The internet's going crazy and everyone's waiting for it. It's a phenomenon. It's wild. I watched it when I was a teen, so it was unbelievable. When he called, when I actually got to meet Chris Carter, I was sweating bullets.

Annet Mahendru and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files.

IGN: What can you say about your character, Sveta, going in? We've heard her described in a clip as "the key to everything."

Mahendru: Well, she's the reason they are back. Because, you know, they were done with everything, and Sveta's convinced them that everything they were doing before was a farce. They've been led around a hamster wheel, basically, on purpose. Because they're very good at what they do, but these people know how to keep them in a box. Mulder, they can't just get rid of him, so they've kept him confined and fed him information and then took it away; it was on their terms. And now he's finding out that there's a whole other purpose behind it all, and another meaning behind his work. So he's back, and Scully too. In the beginning, Scully thinks [about Sveta], "It's just another story. We're not doing this," and then she realizes, "Wait a minute."

IGN: "Maybe there's something to her story."

Mahendru: "We have to do this… to save the world!"

Continue to Page 2 as Mahendru speaks more about appearing on The X-Files and discusses what’s to come on the Americans in season 4.

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