‘Fire Country’ Star Speaks out on Surprise Exit

After it was reported that Stephanie Arcila has exited Fire Country, the Gabriela Perez actress is speaking out about it.

News of her exit, alongside Billy Burke, came on the heels of the two-hour Season 3 finale on Friday.

In the finale, there was no indication that Gabriela would be leaving 42, even following her horrifying stalker storyline. The reason being that Arcila didn’t actually know she wasn’t going to be a series regular anymore while filming, telling Deadline, “I actually got the news the day that we got renewed, so it was kind of serendipitous because I love the aspect of death and rebirth. Not that I’m dying, but you know what I mean, synonymously. I believe in fate and that we’re put where we’re supposed to be. And this is the nature of our business, right? This is what we all sign up for.”

As for her future on the show, “I never say never,” Arcila said. “Life takes us through so many avenues, and Gabriela is such a gift to me in my career, personally and professionally. I’m so grateful to have played a Latina on a show and a Latina where they were able to include part of my culture as well, part of my Colombian background. It was really exciting.”

Even though she won’t be constantly playing Gabriela anymore, Arcila still has an idea of where she wants the character to be, pointing out that she thinks “Gabriela is someone who is forever evolving and learning.” She continued, “I think she is someone that feels, if she’s not evolving, she might as well be dead. It’s life, right? We continue growing, we continue learning, and if we put the effort in individually, it’s magical.”

“So I think that she could continue as a firefighter, I think that she could continue as an EMT, but I definitely think she will never stop learning and growing,” Arcila shared. “And as of what I would love for her, I would love for her to – within all of that growth – just own her stuff and save herself. Everybody’s always saving her, and she’s always trying to save everyone. So I would love for the tables to turn and for her to rise up as the incredibly resilient, smart woman that she is and save herself.”

It will be hard to watch Fire Country without Gabriela, but it sounds like Arcila doesn’t want to be done playing her just yet. Season 4 won’t be premiering until the fall, so fans have plenty of time to speculate how she will be written off and what could possibly bring her back. The first three seasons of Fire Country are streaming on Paramount+.