One of the biggest misconceptions about the CIA, according to The Recruit executive producer and former CIA lawyer Adam Ciralsky, comes from the organization’s past portrayals in film and television. It’s not all action all the time. Ciralsky wanted to make sure that his spy thriller series, which stars Noah Centineo as young CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks, paints a realistic picture of what the covert organization is really like. 

Now an Emmy-winning journalist and producer, Ciralsky began his career at the clandestine government agency and applied some of his experiences as occasional inspiration to Centineo’s character. He got on the phone with Tudum to explain the differences between a hip pocket asset and a hall file, the true definition of graymail, and other burning questions we had after blasting through all eight episodes of The Recruit. Read on for the answers.