Tom Ellis revealed why he didn’t watch most of FBI before filming his new spinoff CIA.
“To start with, I certainly wanted to keep it separate because it is a very different agency and they run very differently and they operate very differently,” Ellis, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly before the Monday, February 23, premiere. “The fun of the clash actually plays out better the less I know about FBI and what they do.”
Ellis “watched a little bit” before pressing pause.
“Obviously, I’ve been aware of the shows and of the Dick Wolf TV kingdom for years and years and years. But I didn’t want to know too much about that,” he explained. “We do cross-pollinate a little bit. But it’s two shows. I wouldn’t say they’re spinoff shows so much as two shows that really complement each other.”
While previewing CIA, Ellis broke down the biggest difference compared to FBI, saying, “The FBI deals in crimes that have already happened predominantly and the CIA try to stop the crime from happening in the first place. FBI is a very public present arm of the law enforcement. They’re the poster boy of U.S. law enforcement. And the CIA is very much in the shadows — and doesn’t want to be on any poster. It doesn’t want people to see who they are and they operate in a very sort of voyeuristic manner.”
FBI debuted on CBS in 2019 and follows the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York City. The network followed that up with FBI: Most Wanted, which aired from 2020 to 2025, about the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fugitive Task Force. There was also the FBI: International spinoff about the International Fly Team that ran for four seasons before concluding in 2025.
In April 2025, CBS gave CIA a straight-to-series order starring Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss. According to the official synopsis, CIA centers on “two unlikely partners — a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law.”
The description continued: “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.”
After rounding out the cast, CIA initially faced a showrunner change when Warren Leight replaced FBI: Most Wanted‘s David Hudgins as showrunner. The changes kept coming when Michael Michele, who was one of the series’ leads, left in November 2025. Days later, Eriq La Salle left the series as executive producer. He was attached to CIA since its conception and directed the pilot before his exit.
Leight then exited as showrunner as well, which caused production to pause. Mike Weiss, the current showrunner of FBI, took over as CIA continued to find its voice before its series premiere.
“The best things come to those who wait,” Ellis teased. “They decided relatively early on that CIA was going to be midseason. That’s actually been beneficial for us because we didn’t have a pilot on this show. Sometimes it’s difficult to really know what a show is until you’ve actually made it. Then you start looking at it and go, ‘These are the pieces and whatnot.’ So it’s given us that little bit of time to actually kind of organically work out what the show is.”
He continued: “What I can say is now we’ve got to that point the show is really going to be worth the wait. For anyone that loves FBI, they’re going to love it. For anyone who loves the Dick Wolf world, they’re going to love it. And for people that want a new show — that don’t watch either of those things — there’s something for those people as well. It’s got a lot of things and it’s got humor in it as well, which is always a big selling point for me.”
CIA airs on CBS Mondays at 10 p.m. ET.
