The FBI Franchise Stars Preview the Globe-Spanning Crossover: It’s ‘Three Hours of Awesome Television’

CBS’ FBI franchise—AKA FBI, FBI: INTERNATIONAL, and FBI: MOST WANTED—crosses over with the Tuesday, April 4 event, “Imminent Threat,” as an ​​American architect’s abduction in Rome sets off a chain of events in both Europe and North America. (As a reminder, FBI and INTERNATIONAL officially swap time slots for the night.)

“My reaction when I first heard [the crossover] was coming was, ‘Hold on to your hat!’” FBI star John Boyd, who plays Agent Stuart Scola, tells Give Me My Remote. “We all had dinner [before production started], and [franchise executive producer/co-creator] Dick [Wolf] talked about what we were going into, a little bit. It was just wonderful to have the whole Wolf family get together before we went to do all of these [episodes]. [We got to] meet each other and see who’s who.”

Though this is the second time the franchise has crossed over, the circumstances were very different this go-round. The first event, in September 2021, served as a season-launching event for FBI and FBI: MOST WANTED, which fed into the series premiere of FBI: INTERNATIONAL. (It also served as the exit hour for former MOST WANTED regular Kellan Lutz.) And while there have been a number of cast changes since the shows last collided, each series has had time to establish its core group and what they can bring to the table.

“I was excited, personally, just because this is the first time this season that we’ve done a crossover,” FBI: INTERNATIONAL star Carter Redwood, who plays Agent Andre Raines, says. “And obviously the first time the shows crossed over was our show’s introduction…So it’s always exciting to reconnect with the family; it feels like we’re an extended family. And outside of FaceTime calls or different calls here and there in certain episodes, we don’t really get to do this often. So it always feels like a big event. And a fun time when we get to do it.”

“It was incredibly exciting,” FBI: INTERNATIONAL star Eva-Jane Willis, who plays Europol Agent Megan Garretson (AKA Smitty)—who joined the franchise this year—adds. “Like Carter said, it’s like playing with your cousins from overseas. We all get together, and it’s like, ‘Let’s do this.’ It was really, really fun.”

Adds Boyd, “I feel like these shows are positioned right now in just such a great place where they’re ready to do this…[we can] make three hours of awesome television, and I think that’s really what we got.”

The case.
According to the official description of the crossover’s kickoff hour, “When the abduction of an American architect in Rome appears to be connected to a brewing terror threat in New York City, FBI’s Jubal (star Jeremy Sisto) and Nina (recurring star Shantel VanSanten) join Forrester and his Fly Team in Italy as they work together to find the missing American and shed light on the terrorists’ U.S. target.”

That investigation “is directly connected to an ongoing undercover case that Scola is working in New York,” Redwood previews. “So that’s the big tie-in and how all the teams get involved. And then [Dylan McDermott’s] Remy and the team at MOST WANTED get called in [as things escalate]. We all have to join forces and bring everybody on board to solve this case and stop a [larger] threat.”

Meanwhile, in New York, “Scola is working as an explosive salesman, undercover, trying to find out who’s looking to buy C4,” Boyd previews. Unfortunately for the agent, “it’s not going great. He’s struggling in the field, a little bit. It’s getting the best of him.”

In addition to the case not exactly going as planned, Scola is very aware that Nina, who is carrying their child, is overseas…and their relationship remains as undefined as ever. “He’s got Nina on his mind,” Boyd admits. “When we first meet up with Scola, he’s having a tough time. He’s not getting anywhere. Which is what leads us to [Missy Peregrym’s] Maggie, who has this idea to bring in Remy Scott, Dylan McDermott’s character, because he’s done a bunch of undercover work in Brighton Beach with these gangs.”

“It’s interesting to see Scola take on help that way,” Boyd adds. “He’s mentally in a place that we haven’t seen him before. He’s struggling and it’s not easy.”

Starting the crossover with INTERNATIONAL (as opposed to it closing things out, as it did in 2021) was also fun for the cast. “This time, it’s really cool and exciting to start it off and get the ball rolling,” Redwood says. “The other teams come on board to help us solve the case!”

The team-ups.
With the shows intermingled for the event, FBI’s Boyd, Sisto, VanSanten, and Alana De La Garza, as well as FBI: INTERNATIONAL’s Luke Kleintank are in all three hours. But there’s plenty of opportunity for new dynamics amongst the agents.

“There’s a call back to our pilot, because Jubal actually introduced us, in a way—Jubal and Forrester have worked together before,” Redwood notes. With Jubal in Rome for the case, “there’s a rapport between them, specifically, because they’ve worked together. And sometimes tensions flare a little bit when trying to figure out the best way to solve the case.”

“So I think we get to see some cool personal dynamics amongst the team and Jubal, in terms of whose way’s the right way,” he continues. “As well as, obviously, trying to solve the case and save lives. So that’s at the core of it. But it’s really interesting, I think, to see how the different personality types come into play here.”

For Smitty, there’s an extra layer of complication: She has to navigate the local authorities who have their own opinion about how the FBI should be handling this investigation.

“That’s one thing that comes up as a theme throughout the episode,” Willis previews. “What is the right way to do something? At what point, when the clock is ticking, do you have to make the call and say, ‘We’re actually going to skip this procedure and do what’s necessary to get the job done’? There’s a bit of a tug of war there, in terms of what we have to do—and what Smitty has to do—to make sure that we crack the case.”

Though Scola and Remy’s dynamic is one of the crossover’s most unexpected pairings, it’s extremely complex. But discovering how to play off each other was “so fun,” Boyd shares. “I mean, I just think the character that Dylan’s building on [MOST WANTED] is really interesting. It has a grittiness to it, but there’s a humor underneath it. And what was fun was to play the agent that is less seasoned, and taking on help from Remy. And us experiencing how Scola takes him in was really fun to play.”

“You don’t really know what Remy is going to do next,” he continues. “He operates in a different world. The way he gets the job done is different than Scola does. And, you know, Scola is in a position of needing his help, so he’s along for the ride. And it was really fun to play with Dylan, for sure.”

The location.
A sizable part of the crossover was filmed in Rome—much to the delight of the cast. While embracing a “When in Rome” mindset—”We must have said [that] about 15 times a day when we were there,” Willis says with a laugh—during production, they indulged in the great views, as well as the food. (For Willis? Gelato. Redwood, however, says he got to have the “best tiramisu of my life.”)

Though INTERNATIONAL, which primarily films in Budapest, is no slouch to shooting in gorgeous locations, Rome “was incredible,” Redwood gushes. “It was my first time there. The cool thing about Rome is that you could look in any direction and everything’s picture-worthy. In terms of what we’ve [filmed], I think it’s going to look really beautiful on the screen…from the Colosseum to the Spanish Steps, it’s really cool how it was all interwoven into the story and in the case that we were trying to solve.”

“It was the most breathtaking backdrop, for what is such an epic crossover event—it was the best place for it,” Willis adds. “Especially as it’s so historical. There’s just so much history there that feels both political and personal when you’re there.”

Things got personal off-set, too, as many of the cast brought their families along for the trip.

“My parents came over to visit, which was awesome,” Redwood shares. “It was a nice time. It felt like a way for us, as a team, also, to bond together. It was like a teamwork trip.”

“We also got to meet each other’s families,” adds Willis. “Some of us hadn’t met other people’s families, and also we got to meet Jeremy and Shantel’s family members, who came as well. It was a huge family event; a huge family holiday.”

And, Willis notes, she did get to have a little fan moment with Sisto and VanSanten. “For me, working with Jeremy and Shantel was a lesson in how to manage yourself with grace and generosity and skill on set,” she gushes. “Because every day I’m learning from working with [my INTERNATIONAL co-stars], but when you look at the body of work that these two actors have done, and to feel how generous and warm they were as soon as they stepped onto set—that, for me, was a huge lesson about how to work in this industry. And so that was really fun and memorable. Something I’ll definitely take home.”

The FBIs Crossover, Tuesday, April 4, 8/7c, CBS

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