Below World's End
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Below World's End is a film in which John Kiriakou made his acting debut. A Hollywood friend wrote both the screenplay and the role specifically for Kiriakou, reasoning that "every day of your CIA career, you acted, you pretended to be somebody that you weren't." Kiriakou conceded the point and agreed to participate. Kiriakou says he took the role purely as a favor and is not pursuing an acting career, calling himself "by far the worst actor in it" even as he rates the film itself "quite good." His focus, he says, remains on writing: he has sold seven pilot scripts in Hollywood over the past fourteen years and is now represented by one of the industry's biggest talent agencies.

The film was shot over the entire month of October 2025 in Mexico, with a cast otherwise composed entirely of professional actors. The movie takes place "all on one scene", a structure Kiriakou notes could also support an off-Broadway theatrical production.

Kiriakou returned home to find a Screen Actors Guild membership card waiting for him. As of early May 2026 he had seen the first cut of the film approximately two weeks prior and described it as "fantastic." A spring 2026 release was anticipated. A few weeks before that, at a private dinner, Sean Penn watched a rough cut and told Kiriakou he was "bold and mercurial" on screen, adding: "You acted every single day of your CIA career and you don't even realize it."

See also

- John Kiriakou
- The Farm
