‘FBI: International’ Replacing Series Lead in Season 2

FBI: International will return in the fall with a new series lead following star Christiane Paul’s departure at the end of Season 1. TVLine reports that as Megan “Smitty” Garretson, Eva-Jane Willis will portray a street-smart Europol agent embedded with The Fly Team who communicates with each host country in which they operate.

As of the Season 1 finale, “Crestfallen,” Smitty will take over for Paul’s character, Katrin Jaeger, who will be enjoying her promotion as Europol’s head of Western Europe off-camera. During an exclusive interview with The List, series star Luke Kleintank talked about how he and the other actors grew close while working together on the CBS show.

Because this FBI spinoff takes place overseas, most of the filming is done in Budapest, Hungary. In order to shoot on location, the actors had to relocate. “It felt like it was a huge decision for everybody to take their lives and move it all the way to Budapest and start in a new place [where] actually none of us had ever been. It felt like a huge choice and a risk,” Kleintank said.

The actor said the cast depended heavily on one another because they were away from home and friends. “We are out together. We’re having drinks. We’re going, we’re singing karaoke. We’re at each other’s houses. We depend on it. We actually depend on each other, which is rare,” he said. Deadline reports that Paul may return as a guest star in the future, although there are no plans yet. Among Willis’ other credits are HBO’s Gangs of London; ITV’s Maigret Sets a Trap; Raging Grace for AMC Entertainment; and Uncle for BBC. 

CBS renewed all three of its FBI series, including FBI: International, for two more seasons back in May. As a new television series, the spinoff roughly tied Ghosts and NCIS: Hawai’i for the most viewers in its first season.

“The FBIs are one of the most successful brands in the entire TV landscape and a powerful cornerstone of our No. 1 lineup,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said in a statement. “They’ve attracted a dedicated, loyal fan base, thanks to the extraordinary vision of executive producer Dick Wolf and the talents of all three outstanding casts and creative teams. I know we and our viewers look forward to two additional seasons of engaging, heroic stories.” FBI: International’s second season premieres September 20 on CBS at 9 pm ET/PT.