In the no-war, cold-war life of the 1950s, Americans were readjusting to revolution, and so they needed spies, secrets and surveillance. It was a time for the CIA to grow.

"There was a new evil enemy," says Chris O'Donnell, who stars in "The Company," an ambitious new miniseries. "You felt like every minute counted."

A small agency was suddenly expanding. Fresh from the Ivy League, young men were dealing with the future of the world.

That includes Jack McAuliffe, O'Donnell's character. He became a grownup and a CIA agent at the same time.

"For him, this is his life," O'Donnell says. "This is everything."

That becomes the core of an ambitious project. On three Sundays, films will follow McAuliffe and colleagues over generations.

"It's three different movies with three different looks," says director Mikael Salomon. "The three nights are very different."

That starts with a complex tale in Hungary, where a gorgeous ballet dancer is passing secrets to the West. McAuliffe's mentor (Alfred Molina) is obsessed with finding a mole, somewhere in the British hierarchy. The division chief, James Jesus Angleton (Michael Keaton), has doubts.

That one "took a lot of inspiration from the old spy thrillers, from film noir," Salomon says. The second part is more of an action film, he says. The third is reflective.

It has much to reflect on. "The Company" sweeps from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to the Bay of Pigs and the collapse of the Soviet Union. That may sound familiar if you've read Robert Littell's best-selling novel.

This complex story drew the attention of Ridley Scott, director of "Gladiator," "Thelma & Louise" and more.

"Ridley was going to direct this as a feature (movie)," O'Donnell says. "I don't know how he could have done that. Even at six hours, there's a lot to do."

So it became a miniseries with Scott as producer.

O'Donnell went out of his way to get the role. He says his "Grey's Anatomy" role could have been extended, but he left to do "The Company" because he realized the "Grey's" role as Dr. Finn Dandridge was temporary, anyway.

"I knew I wasn't going to stay," he says. "There was no way she would choose a vet (veterinarian) over Dr. McDreamy."

Still, it was a pleasant role to play. It was, O'Donnell says, a character close to his own. O'Donnell has had a relatively pleasant life, with no room for McDreamy-style brooding.

O'Donnell grew up in a suburb of Chicago, where his father was general manager of radio giant WBBM. This was an Irish-Catholic family and Chris, the youngest of seven kids, was accustomed to getting attention. He modeled and acted. He did the 1990 Jessica Lange film "Men Don't Leave," graduated from Boston College and moved into acting full time.

That has put him alongside some of the masters, including Al Pacino (who won an Oscar playing his mentor in 1992's "Scent of a Woman") and Molina.

"It's the easiest work I've ever had," O'Donnell said of acting with the masters. "When someone is that good, all you have to do is be there with him."