John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell on ‘Wild Horse Nine’

The longtime friends talk about sinister characters and the politics that underpin the C.I.A. story at the heart of their new darkly comic drama, “Wild Horse Nine.”“Sam is an actor who isn’t at all pretentious and isn’t at all precious, but has a great work ethic, takes it very seriously and conversely loves to have fun doing it,” Malkovich, left, said of his co-star Rockwell. “And I think those two different facets need to go together.”