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FBI star Alana de la Garza dishes on playing the team’s new boss

By Brittany Frederick

"American Idol" -- After a front-running female presidential candidate, Valerie Caldwell (Sasha Alexander), is targeted with a car bomb, OA and Maggie must hurry to track down the bomber before they strike again. The case leads them to wonder whether this person is targeting Caldwell for her political aspirations or something else, on FBI, Tuesday, Oct. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured Alana De La Garza as Isobel Castille Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"American Idol" -- After a front-running female presidential candidate, Valerie Caldwell (Sasha Alexander), is targeted with a car bomb, OA and Maggie must hurry to track down the bomber before they strike again. The case leads them to wonder whether this person is targeting Caldwell for her political aspirations or something else, on FBI, Tuesday, Oct. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured Alana De La Garza as Isobel Castille Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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FBI is getting a new leader in Alana de la Garza, who spoke about taking over in FBI season 2 and joining another Dick Wolf series.

Alana de la Garza is taking over in FBI season 2. Her character Isobel Castille is the new Special Agent in Charge on the hit CBS series, replacing Sela Ward as Dana Mosier, who retired in last season’s finale.

While she’ll be missed, Isobel is a more than welcome addition. First seen in the backdoor pilot for FBI: Most Wanted, she’ll bring her own style to the original series. And Alana de la Garza isn’t just an incredible actress, she’s familiar to any Dick Wolf enthusiast.

She starred in the last several seasons of Law & Order as Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa, a role that she reprised over various series in that franchise. Now she’s helping to lead FBI forward, and spoke about that in our interview.

Look ahead to the new season in our interview with Alana de la Garza below, then make sure you tune into a new FBI season 2 episode tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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One Chicago Center: What was it about Isobel Castille that made you want to play this character?

I love the idea of playing the SAC Isobel Castille because it’s something new for me and something that I think will be a fun challenge.

And I think it’s always interesting to be able to play a character that lives this duality, of balancing the line between being the boss and following her orders for the actual protocol that’s expected of her and then investigating the personal relationships she has with her agents and team.

Riding that fine line can be really a fun journey. So I was excited about that.

Now that audiences have seen her in action with last week’s FBI season premiere, how is she going to run this team? What’s her approach?

Isobel Castille is no-nonsense, very direct. Honestly, she does not mess around. She doesn’t mince words. But you will see that the passion she brings to her agents and everything she’s involved with, she brings it on all levels, meaning you will see her throughout her journey really defend her team with passion. So you’ll see all of the different characteristics.

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How do you work with FBI‘s writers to make sure she’s not just sitting behind a desk and giving out exposition like a lot of other bosses we’ve seen on TV crime shows?

It’s really fun to get the script every week and read them and get excited and find out where your character is going in this episode and what’s happening. So you can always reach out to them and say, “Hey, I love the way you wrote this scene. Or I’m stumping on this conversation. I’m not sure what this is.”

So really, they create the characters, and you’re lucky enough to get to play them and make them come to life. I always feel like that that’s my job, is to make their words come alive because they know what they’re doing. They don’t need my help.

The first episode was really about the team’s impressions of Isobel. What are her impressions of this team? She worked with them briefly in the backdoor pilot for FBI: Most Wanted, but now as their boss?

Isobel comes from the perspective of let’s be the best we can be and the top of our game at all times. So I think that she admires them and wants to create the best, strongest team that she can. That’s the impression I get from who she is in her character in the episodes that we’ve seen so far.

Is playing this role on FBI any different than playing it in that backdoor pilot?

I feel like the pilot was a different energy because that team goes out on the field full-time. They are not in an office nearly as much. So there’s a little bit of a different energy there, which is really cool as well.

And then this show, of course, you’re in the office, you’re out in the field, you’re interrogating people, and all that fun stuff. So they are different, but there’s definitely that thread of Wolf Pack energy for both.

Which brings us to the fact that you’re returning to the Dick Wolf universe. What does it mean to you, to be working on another Dick Wolf series after your successful run in the Law & Order franchise?

To be invited back into the Dick Wolf pack, so to speak, is honestly something that I will always be in awe about and really just appreciative of. Dick has a way of creating these universes that people want to watch. They’re interesting and fun and entertaining and action-packed. And so you will constantly be talking about the episodes afterward.

I love when an episode finishes and you go, “Gosh, what would you have done in that situation? Did the team do this right? Did they do that right?” And it starts a conversation. I love that he tends to do that with all of the shows, kind of leave you thinking and talking. And that’s his style, which is really cool to be a part of.

Have you noticed any major similarities or differences between Isobel Castille and Connie Rubirosa?

Rubirosa, she was a little, I guess, gentler, a little more tender when she would investigate. And Isobel, she’s cool. She’s passionate and strong and does not mince words, which is really fun. Just to be able to represent females in that way—to be smart, well-spoken, unapologetic, that’s really liberating and really fun. That’s a cool journey.

Is there anything else that you want to say as we dig into the rest of FBI season 2?

This is a really, really fun journey. And I intend to make the most of it and the most of my character and just really dive into it creatively and have a good time. It’s honestly a gift when you join a cast that has a chemistry and a friendship, and they welcome you with open arms and you fit in and you feel that camaraderie. It’s really a blessing and it’s not always like that. I’ve been really, really lucky to join casts like this, and this one is no exception. It’s a gift.

Next. Everything to know about FBI season 2. dark

For the latest FBI season 2 spoilers and news, plus more on all of Dick Wolf’s other series, follow the Dick Wolf category at One Chicago Center.

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