‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Promotes Guest Star to Series Regular for Season 13

NCIS: Los Angeles is adding a new main cast member just after losing two others. After the Season 12 finale saw longtime stars Barrett Foa (Eric Beale) and Renée Felice Smith (Nell Jones) exit the series, the CBS naval procedural has promoted Gerald McRaney from recurring guest star to series regular ahead of Season 13, Deadline reported Wednesday.

McRaney, who has appeared as retired Admiral Hollis Kilbride on the NCIS spinoff since 2014, has been a fan-favorite character, advising and counseling the Special Projects unit during their undercover missions. “When you have an actor of Gerald McRaney’s caliber, you do everything you can to make sure you get him as often as possible,” NCIS: LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told Deadline. “Admiral Kilbride has been an esteemed part of our universe for seven years now and we look forward to viewers seeing him come in and shake up our NCIS: LA world.”

McRaney is an acclaimed television actor, winning an Emmy for his guest role as Dr. Nathan Katowski on NBC’s This Is Us. He was also praised for his role as Deadwood villain George Hearst and most recently starred as family patriarch Eugene Monreaux opposite Kim Cattrall in the Fox series Filthy Rich.

Gemmill previously told TVLine he was a “huge fan” of McRaney’s “forever,” adding, “I mean, I grew up watching him and I was really happy when we had him on the show the first time, a few years ago. He’s such a pro and so cool, he raises everybody’s game.” The EP continued that McRaney’s versatility between comedy and drama makes him a perfect fit for the show, “and he likes to be out running around with guns, because he’s a big hunter in real life.”

NCIS: LA fans bid farewell to Eric and Nell during the Season 12 finale after the tech company founder secured funding to open a branch in Japan, offering Nell a role as the operations manager. Gemmill told TVLine there’s always room for the characters to return: “Both Renée and Barrett have been on the show a long time, and they’re both very ambitious individuals who have projects that they want to do on their own – and we’ve been giving them time off to do so,” he said. “It seemed like a natural time to let them go off and do some other things, and give [their characters] what is a happy, hopefully, ending.”