EXCLUSIVE: There is a major cast departure on CBS’ upcoming FBI offshoot CIA. Michael Michele, one of the series’ leads, has left, sources tell Deadline. CIA, headlined by Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss, has been in production for more than a month, targeting a midseason premiere. There are rumblings that Michele would be recast but that has not been confirmed and appears unclear at the moment.
This is the second major change on the crime drama, which was picked up in April with a straight-to-series order, following a showrunner switch over the summer.
CIA centers on two unlikely partners – a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (Ellis), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent (Gehlfuss) who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple are assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength.
Michele played the head of CIA’s New York Station. The show also stars Natalee Linez as a CIA analyst.
Originally planned for a fall 2025 premiere, CIA in July was pushed to midseason while undergoing a showrunner change, with Warren Leight replacing FBI: Most Wanted showrunner David Hudgins.
Dick Wolf and Leight executive produce CIA alongside Nicole Perlman, David Chasteen, and Peter Jankowski. Eriq La Salle is directing and executive producing the pilot episode. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces in association with Wolf Entertainment and CBS Studios.
Michele has a long history with Wolf; in her first acting gig, she recurred on the first season of his New York Undercover. She most recently recurred opposite Queen Latifah on another CBS/Universal TV crime drama, The Equalizer.
