Cynthia Houston

**Cynthia Houston** is a character in Spies Are Forever and is portrayed by Lauren Lopez. She is the head of the American Secret Service and is Agent Curt Mega's boss.

Cynthia is first seen calling Agent Curt Mega in the episode Curt, Owen & The Russian Affair. She doesn't appear to have much faith in Curt, as she tells him to quit his '*tom-fuckery'*, and is glad to hear that Owen Carvour is on the case too, '*someone who actually knows what the hell they're doing'* according to her.

The episode Like a Boss B\*tch opens with her calling Vice President Nixon, saying he looks like a dirty old crook, and giving an impression of John F. Kennedy. After she hangs up because Curt walked in, she scolds him for letting a dangerous weapon of mass destruction fall in the hands of a Russian spy. She says she's at least glad that The Deadliest Man Alive, who she calls a '*sick fuck'*, doesn't have the bomb.

Curt takes too long to save Cynthia from a staged attack by Susan, which greatly dissapoints Cynthia. She tells him grieving doesn't excuse anything, because when she got the call that Owen died and Curt lived, she screamed into Susan's neck for fifteen seconds, then locked it up and moved on. She tells Curt about the World Peace Gala and how she thinks the Prince is an '*inexperienced, inbred, dumbo doofus'*, and then proceeds to poison Curt. Only when Curt repeats back everthing she just said, she gives him the antidote, and says she's been poisoning herself a little bit every day since 1939. She then sings Eyes on the Prize I, with more tough love directed at Curt.

She is seen again in A Royal Pain in the A.S.S., dancing with Susan at the World Peace Gala in Geneva. Like the rest of the guests, she pretends to love the Prince, while actually loathing him. Curt discoveres the plot by Dr. Baron Von Nazi and The Deadliest Man Alive to kidnap the Prince, and goes to Cynthia for help, who thinks it's a good riddance, and she invokes Curt's authorization to continue his mission.

She is again seen calling important political figures in Bon Voyage, Agent Mega, this time with President John F. Kennedy, telling him the expression she did was just a joke. Curt walks in, and she expresses her condolences about Owen, but also slaps him for embarrasing her at the gala. She does admit, that because of his mistakes at the gala, the American diplomatic relationship with Russia is the best it's been in years. She says she would wink and give a thumbs up if she wasn't too old for that childish bullshit. As a parting gift, she leaves him a live grenade in his breast pocket, which Susan runs off with and it explodes off stage.

## Personality

At first glance she seems cold and cruel, but throughout the play we see that deep down she does care for Curt in an almost motherly way, despite not really outwardly expressing it.

She is very authoritative and confident, which is clear in the way she talks to the (Vice) President and Curt.

## Physical appearance

Cynthia has straight dark brown hair with bangs. She is mostly seen wearing heels, a dark blue pencil skirt, a light blue sweater and a grey jacket. She wore a floor length brown skirt and a red blazer to the World Peace Gala.

## Gallery

Cynthia calling Curt and OwenCynthia calling vice president NixonCynthia and Susan singing Eyes On The Prize ICynthia dancing with Susan at the World Peace GalaCynthia giving Curt the finger for embarrassing her at the galaCynthia smoking a cigarette
## Trivia

* Lauren Lopez insisted on smoking real clove cigarettes rather than fake ones for the show, partly because they helped deepen her voice to play Cynthia
* It is probable that Cynthia knew the nature of Curt's relationship with Owen and protected him, something that would've meant a lot during that time period. With the government looking for homosexual people, it could have cost Cynthia her job and much more had she been found to have known about Curt's situation, which leads many people to wonder whether Cynthia herself is part of the LGBTQ+ community. She easily could have turned Curt over but didn't, and while she may outwardly appear to be mean and harsh, deep down there is some part of her that feels the need to protect Curt.

1. ↑ https://youtu.be/NV22orgntIg?t=2693