Julian McMahon To Depart ‘FBI: Most Wanted’: “I Am Grateful To Have Had The Opportunity To Play Jess”

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: This will come as a shocker for fans of the FBI franchise. Julian McMahon, star of FBI: Most Wanted, is exiting the CBS crime drama after almost three seasons.

His final episode is slated to shoot next week and will air March 8. The show is expected to introduce a new character later this season who will fill the void left by the exit of McMahon’s Jess LaCroix, an “agent’s agent” and head of the team from the FBI’s Most Wanted Unit which is assigned the most extreme and egregious cases.According to sources, McMahon approached the FBI: Most Wanted executive producers, including Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski, about leaving the series early in the season.“Over the past few months, the producers of FBI: Most Wanted and I have had discussions about my departure from the show in favor of additional creative pursuits and the transition of my character Jess LaCroix,” McMahon said in a statement to Deadline. “These ongoing conversations have given us an opportunity to orchestrate a seamless and productive way for me to leave the show.”McMahon also reflected on his time on FBI: Most Wanted and playing Jess LaCroix.“I would like to express the gratitude and admiration I have had working with Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the work we have done together and put the development of this show, and my character Jess, at the top of my professional experience list.

I wish the show, and its cast & crew, the greatest success in the future. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play Jess; he is a good man.”It is unclear yet how McMahon’s character would be written off.