FBI Spinoff Officially Recasts Major Character With NCIS Star After Cast Exit Shake-Up

The upcoming spinoff of the FBI series, focusing on the CIA, has cast a former NCIS actor in a key role. While the FBI franchise once dominated primetime television, CBS has significantly scaled back its offerings for the 2025-2026 season, with only the original FBI series remaining. Despite strong viewership, CBS previously cancelled FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International.

CBS initially intended to premiere the new FBI spin-off in the fall, but production difficulties prevented that from happening. While Tom Ellis was cast as the lead for the show—now titled CIA—Wolf Entertainment and CBS had trouble finding the rest of the cast. They eventually added Nick Gehlfuss as Special Agent Bill Goodman, who will work alongside Ellis, and Natalee Linez and Michael Michele will also star.

Following Michele’s departure, CBS has chosen Necar Zadegan to take over the role of the CIA’s Chief of Station, according to Deadline. Viewers may recognize Zadegan from her previous roles as Agent Hannah Khoury on NCIS: New Orleans and Dalia Hassan in season 8 of 24. She also started her career on Broadway, appearing in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

In addition to changes in the cast of the CIA spin-off, the show has also seen key departures from its creative team. Warren Leight, who took over as showrunner in July, is leaving the project. Eriq La Salle, an executive producer and director, has also departed. Mike Weiss, currently the showrunner for FBI, is now expected to lead the spin-off as well.

Production on the show CIA has been paused for the past two weeks, and it’s currently unknown when filming will restart. Bringing in actors Zadegan and Weiss is expected to help get things moving again. Similar to FBI, this new series is also being filmed in New York City. The big question now is whether they will simply replace the original actor, or if Zadegan will play a new character who steps into the role of Chief.

CBS and Wolf Entertainment seem confident they’ll be able to launch the new CIA series on its planned winter premiere date. Production began in September, meaning they likely have a completed pilot episode. The current season of FBI has already hinted at the CIA‘s existence within the show’s world, and fans are hoping this will lead to a crossover event. This could help the new series quickly become a solid part of the FBI franchise.

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2025-11-21 21:27