FBI Star Announces Delayed Season 5 Return
It looks like it'll be a little bit longer before Special Agent Maggie Bell returns to FBI. On Friday, actress Missy Peregrym took to Instagram to reveal that her current maternity leave is going to continue until September of this year, despite the CBS series starting production on its upcoming fifth season "in a couple weeks." Peregrym and her husband, Tom Oakley, welcomed a new daughter named Mela Joséphine Oakley on June 6th.
"FBI is starting up again in a couple weeks, but I will be returning to work in September," the actress shared. "I'm relieved and grateful that I am afforded the space to bond with my family, to rest and heal and be a mother (which is harder than work!). I understand this is a luxury, and I wish every mother/parent/caretaker had this too. Thank you for all the love, prayers and support from this community."
Peregrym temporarily exited FBI in April of this year, with her role on the FBI task force being filled by Special Agent Nina Chase, played by Shantel VanSanten. As showrunnner Rick Eid explained at the time, the narrative reason behind Maggie's absence would ultimately be "preetty traumatic."
"The reality is that [Maggie's recovery] is a journey, it's going to be a while," Eid revealed to TVLine. "When she does come back, whenever that is, she'll probably for the most part be the same ol' Maggie, but she did go through something pretty traumatic. There are not only physical injuries but maybe some emotional ones, and that may affect how she sees the world and how she handles cases."
Across the FBI family of TV shows the various series have been plagued with cast turnover in recent years. Sister series FBI: Most Wanted lost not only Kellan Lutz last year but recently saw star Julian McMahon depart the show. McMahon was replaced by Dylan McDermott who made his premiere in the series earlier this year.
"Look, he cares about her," Eid told CinemaBlend of how Maggie's recovery will impact OA (Zeeko Zaki). "He's checking in on her, he's making sure she's gonna be okay. And you know, the show goes on. I mean, he still has a job to do and there'll be other people to fill that [role], to work with him and the team continues. But he obviously cares a lot about Maggie, and he will keep an eye on her."
FBI will air on Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS through its Season 4 finale on Tuesday, May 24th.