FBI’s three-year renewal deal means our favorite fictional federal agents will keep New York safe from terrorist threats for a while.
Most of the time, FBI’s cast doesn’t change much from year to year, though there have been some new additions (and sad subtractions) over the years.
Let’s examine who is returning and who each actor is outside of their role on FBI.
FBI Will Have The Same Cast, But There’s a Twist
The same detectives will star on FBI as in years past, but there’s a twist: CBS will have the FBI cast rotate throughout episodes, as NBC did with the Law & Order shows when they finally returned from the strike-extended hiatus.
This means that some characters will be missing from each episode. Hopefully, there will be good on-screen reasons for their absences.
This decision includes characters like Isobel and Jubal, who are supposed to be the head of the unit.
Most likely, one of these two will be in each episode but not both — otherwise, there will be a gaping hole in leadership that may be hard to explain.
Please scroll down to learn more about each character’s role on FBI.
Special Agent Maggie Bell (Missy Pergrym)
Maggie is one of the lead agents, having been partnered with OA throughout the series’ run. Stories often focus on her and OA’s partnership.
She had a particularly rough time during Season 6. A case involving a killer armed with chemical weapons triggered flashbacks of her sarin poisoning during FBI Season 4, and the killer got her best friend, Jessie (Charlotte Sullivan).
After Jessie’s sudden death, Maggie was left legally responsible for her friend’s young daughter, Ella, and disappeared for an episode to take Ella to visit Ella’s grandparents.
Maggie’s absence was deeply felt during that episode, as OA had to deal with a hostage situation that triggered his memories of his time in Afghanistan without her. No one else he talked to really seemed to understand what he was going through.
Maggie and OA’s partnership is a unique friendship that is some people’s ship that will never sail because they know each other so well. Maggie knows when OA is struggling psychologically with a case and vice versa, and they have each other’s backs like no other agents do.
Missy Peregrym, who plays her, is best known for her role as Andy McNally in Rookie Blue, a Canadian-produced series about a group of newbie police officers.
Before that, Peregrym had several roles on American TV shows, including a guest spot on Heroes and the lead in the CW’s Reaper in 2007.
She works with TOMS, an organization that donates shoes to people in need in Argentina. This cause is close to her heart because she’s seen the impact of this work firsthand.
Special Agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan (Zeeko Zaki)
OA is a groundbreaking character because of his ethnic and religious background. He is the first Muslim police officer in the history of police procedurals; before he came onto the scene, the only Muslim characters were terrorists who defied the cops to stop them.
OA’s presence demonstrates a truth that should be obvious but too often isn’t: Muslims can be just as loyal to America as anyone else and should not be discriminated against because of 9/11 and similar attacks.
Since FBI stories often involve terrorists and those threatening to commit such acts, OA sometimes struggles with disappointment, as he prefers to believe that fellow Muslims are as innocent as he is.
He is also a veteran who has some PTSD from his time in Afghanistan, which was a big part of the plot on FBI Season 6 Episode 11. During that episode, he had to rely on his on-again-off-again girlfriend for support, as Maggie was out of town.
Like OA, Zeeko Zaki is Muslim. He was born in Egypt but came to the United States when he was a month old, though he could return to his hometown every summer to spend time with family in his aunt’s villa.
OA was initially written as a Latino character, but Dick Wolf decided to make him Middle Eastern instead after viewing Zaki’s audition tape.
This role has allowed Zaki to demonstrate through his craft that not all Arabs are terrorists, a goal he is passionate about. It is also his first lead role in a TV series.
Before FBI, Zaki had bit parts as an antagonist in Six and 24: Legacy.
Special Agent Stuart Scola (John Boyd)
Scola is a newer addition to the team, having first appeared on FBI Season 2 Episode 1. He is a former stockbroker turned FBI agent who quit his old job to do something more meaningful.
Scola knew FBI Most Wanted’s Sheryll Barnes from Quantico, which helped him get hired by Jubal.
He is often cynical and closed off but has been less so since beginning his relationship with Nina Chase, who is now working with the Fugitive Task Force.
The couple has an infant at home, who is named Dougie after Scola’s brother, who died in the 9/11 attack.
John Boyd has played a special agent before, joining Bones during its final two seasons as Special Agent James Aubrey.
Fun fact: Boyd’s father played his character’s dad on an episode of Bones!
His career began on a different Dick Wolf show, as his first role was as a guest star on Law & Order in 2005, followed by a different guest appearance on that series the following year.
However, his breakout role was on the eighth season of Fox’s 24, where he won his first starring role as Arlo Glass. He followed this up with a guest role on Suits before he joined Bones.
Special Agent Tiffany Wallace (Katherine Renee Kane)
Tiffany Wallace is the newest team member, having joined during FBI Season 3. Before joining the FBI unit, she worked for the NYPD’s Narcotics division and had extensive experience with drug crimes.
Wallace decided to join the FBI after working with them on a joint task force. She loves her job but sometimes seems to be an outsider among the FBI agents, even after working for the feds for three years.
As the only Black woman in this particular unit, Wallace is keenly aware of the racial issues in policing and sometimes feels like she’s fighting an uphill battle to be understood.
During the season finale, she shot the perp who had killed her partner, and for a split second, there was a question of whether it was a clean shoot.
Fortunately, it was soon proven that the man was armed and that she shot in defense of herself and her team.
However, Wallace will likely deal with the trauma of having shot someone throughout Season 7.
Tiffany Wallace is played by Katherine Renee Kane (aka Katherine Renee Turner).
This is her first TV role; however, she has been in several movies, such as 2016’s Extraordinary.
SAC Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza)
Isobel is the agent in charge of the entire unit. While the agents report directly to Jubal instead of her, she has the power to hire, fire, and discipline agents and can decide to take an agent off a particular case.
Isobel doesn’t have a significant role on most episodes, but her input is important as the unit leader. She must have mutual trust and rapport with the agents to ensure everyone’s safety and well-being during high-stakes operations.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t always have that, partially because she’s quick to assume an agent in question is struggling too much to be an asset to a case.
Maggie and OA have had PTSD-related responses to cases in the past, and the last thing they want is for Isobel to know about it because they don’t want to be removed from their current case.
Alana de La Garza is no stranger to police procedurals, having starred in several of them.
Dick Wolf fans may recognize her as ADA Connie Rubirosa from Law & Order; she played the role for the final four seasons before the series’ ten-year hiatus.
She also guest starred on an episode of Law & Order: SVU in 2014, playing the same role.
This episode revealed that Rubirosa was now heading a task force to combat underage sex trafficking, effectively ending her Law & Order role.
In addition to the Law & Order franchise, De La Garza played Marisol Delko-Caine on CSI: Miami, Detective Jo Martinez on Forever, and Special Agent Clara Seger on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
Assistant SAC Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto)
Jubal Valentine is the boss that the agents deal with daily. He briefs them on the details of current cases and decides how to proceed in investigations.
Jubal often makes cameo appearances on the other FBI shows, consulting with team leaders about their cases as needed.
Jubal is a recovering alcoholic who has had at least one slip throughout FBI’s run but has been back on the wagon for a while and hopefully will stay that way.
He is divorced and has a teenage son who recently learned he had cancer. Dealing with his son’s issues causes Jubal a lot of stress, especially since he’s neither the custodial parent nor someone with enough time to focus exclusively on his son’s needs.
Like Alana De La Graza, Jeremy Sisto is a Law & Order alum, having played Detective Cyrus Lupo around the same time De La Graza played ADA Connie Rubirosa.
He is also known for his role on Six Feet Under and for movies such as Clueless, Suicide Kings, and Thirteen.
Sisto was not a great student when he was in school but was accepted to UCLA, allegedly only if he signed a non-disclosure agreement stating he wouldn’t tell anyone he was accepted unless he became a famous actor.
This became a non-issue as he began acting almost immediately after high school and never attended classes at UCLA or anywhere else.
Over to you, FBI fanatics. Who is your favorite FBI character? Hit the comments and let us know!
FBI Season 7 will air on CBS on Tuesdays at 8/7c and stream on Paramount+ on Wednesdays.
