Dick Wolf and FBI’s Cast at Monte-Carlo

World Screen’s Anna Carugati moderated a panel with Dick Wolf and the cast of his CBS show FBI at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

The panel featured Wolf alongside cast members Missy Peregrym, Zeeko Zaki, Ebonée Noel and Jeremy Sisto. FBI just wrapped its first-season run on CBS in May. It has been renewed for a second season and CBS has greenlit a spin-off, FBI: Most Wanted.

Peregrym, who stars as special agent Maggie Bell, said she first said no to the opportunity to be in FBI “because I didn’t want to move to New York and I didn’t want to do a procedural” having spent several years on Rookie Blue. “And then I read the script. I really like to play characters that have a full range of expression. I do love representing law enforcement. I value what they do for us. I’m proud to represent people who don’t really get very good press. I’m proud to show how they do their job.”

Sisto, who plays assistant special agent in charge Jubal Valentine, had worked with Wolf previously on the original Law & Order and was excited to work with the hitmaker again. “It’s the feeling of confidence you have in the fact that the person at the top knows exactly what they are doing, what stories they are telling, what audience they are working to satisfy. At the core of the project is a really long-sighted vision of how to create a franchise, something that is going to be around for a long time.”

On the importance of depicting the work of the FBI today, Wolf noted, “It’s our first line of defense against a multitude of bad people. Terrorism, crime, kidnapping, the worst crimes in the country are handled by the FBI.”

Noel, who stars as analyst Kristen Chazal, says the procedural depicts an “amped up version of how they operate. They take quite a bit more time than we do to solve their cases.”

Addressing the physicality of his role, Zaki, who portrays special agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan, noted, “We’re moving very fast. The pace of the scenes we’re shooting. We have a lot to do in nine days. We do get to rely on awesome stunt coordinators.”

Zaki also discussed being able to play “one of the first Muslim Arab Americans as a lead or hero on network television and finding a way to do that without throwing anything down anybody’s throat. Showing the normalcy and diversity of that.”

Wolf was asked about how he and his team balance the closed-ended nature of the procedural with overarching storylines that reveal the characters’ backstories. “It is a question of balance,” he said. “People say there’s no character development in procedurals and that is just not true. I think it’s much more effective when character backstories are doled out with teaspoons rather than soup ladles. If you’re a regular or semi-regular viewer of these shows, you know a great deal about the characters but you don’t know when you picked it up or how you picked it up.”

Wolf also said that most of the show’s storylines are inspired by “what’s going in the country. Most of the cases are delving into areas of what I hope will be nationwide concerns, whether it’s terrorism or opioids. It’s not usually a specific case.”

Carugati then asked the cast about the on-set atmosphere. Peregrym noted, “When there’s a healthy set, it really translates all across the board. People first. And that is very good for business.”

Wolf then discussed the upcoming FBI: Most Wanted. “Julian McMahon is the lead on that show. He’s terrific. It’s a totally different franchise.”

Cross-over episodes between the two shows can be expected.