Jay Haden as Agent Tyler Booth
Nellie Kiss/CBSJay Hayden joins FBI: International for a four-episode arc and his character, Tyler Booth, is set to make waves and ruffle some feathers.
Hayden, 37, especially for Us Weekly about his character’s “checkered past,” teasing that Tyler is a “former partner” of Fly Team leader Wes Mitchell (Jesse Lee Sofer).
“They’ve done some good things (together) that might not be up to par,” he said of Tyler and Wes’ dynamic, noting that they will reunite during the Tuesday, Dec. 10 episode, when Tyler travels to Budapest to track down a wanted fugitive on the FBI’s most wanted list and asks Wes’s team for help.
“Are they still best friends? I don’t know Do they do things the same way? Definitely not,” Hayden laughed, previewing what fans will see between Tyler and Wes upon his arrival. “It will be a clash of personalities.”
To many fans, Jesse Lee Soffer will always be Jay Halstead, but his new FBI: International character, Wes Mitchell, has his own story to tell. “There was a lot of baggage on the (Chicago) PD Halstead by the end of 10 seasons,” Soffer, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly about his former detective character. “There is someone (who has) (…)
During season 4, viewers learned tidbits about Weswho became supervisory special agent in charge of foreign affairs after Scott Forrester (Luke Kleintank) remained during the season 3 finale. When Tyler shows up in Budapest, Wes’ past will become a little clearer.
Jesse Lee Soffer as Supervising Special Agent Wesley “Wes” Mitchell
Nellie Kiss/CBS“Wes and Tyler were the same at one point. They were agents together, partners together,” Hayden explained. “One career went one way, the other career went the other way because of some circumstance they were both involved in.”
When Tyler, who is currently part of the FBI’s Charleston, South Carolina office, makes it to Budapest, where Wes is headquartered, it becomes clear that Wes owes him for the incident they were involved in in the past. While Wes will change a few rules for Tyler, he also tries to manage him and push his career forward.
Jesse Lee Soffer as Supervising Special Agent Wesley “Wes” Mitchell
Nellie Kiss/CBS“Tyler is finally getting to the point where he has a chance to get to the next level (of work). But he’s got to catch this guy, a guy who’s causing a lot of law enforcement deaths,” Hayden said of Tyler’s debut. “So the person he knows can help him, one of the best agents he knows is now a GS 14 on the flight team (so) he got into that relationship.”
The actor noted that it was a “tense case” that pushed Tyler and Wes’ friendship to the brink. “They don’t see eye to eye. They don’t catch criminals the same way,” Hayden said. “And the rest of the summer team definitely has a problem with Tyler’s way of doing things as well.”
FBI: International has a new team leader in Jesse Lee Soffer, Supervising Special Agent Wesley “Wes” Mitchell—and he’s coming with a gun. “It’s a completely different role,” Soffer, 40, told Us Weekly exclusively about Wes, who replaces Luke Kleintank’s Scott Forrester as Fly Team supervisor for Season 4. “There’s more of, (…)
The Station 19 alum added: “Obviously Wes colors a little bit outside the lines, but now it’s even worse when you have someone saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, so let’s do it this way outside the lines.’ And he said, ‘No, no man. I’m not, I don’t know. No. So it’s (a) great dynamic.”
Outside of Tyler and Wes’ relationship, Hayden shared that Tyler’s dynamic with Megan “Smitty” Garretson (Eva-Jane Willis) is “one to track down,” revealing, “(It’s) really fun, and these waves end up crashing into each other.”
Jay Hayden as Agent Tyler Booth and Eva-Jane Willis as Europol Agent Megan “Smitty” Garretson
Nellie Kiss/CBSHayden said us that fans will see him in four episodes of FBI: International “right now,” hinting that his arc may expand. As his character clashes with Wes and company, Hayden couldn’t be happier at the prospect of working with the 40-year-old Soffer even more closely in the new year.
“I’m not sure who threw my hat in the ring,” he said of how he landed the role, noting he’s been friends with Sofer for years. “Working with a friend is… it’s a gift that most of us never get as actors. You can’t work with your real friends, you become friends with the people you work with. But you can’t show up on day one and be like, ‘This is one of my best friends for 16 years.’ So it’s great.”
Hayden joked that he and Sopher got involved in an “interview-unfriendly” scam while teaming up in Europe.
“We couldn’t stop laughing on set. It’s such a blast. It was so much fun,” he recalls. “Going to visit your friend in Budapest and going to work and being like, ‘Yeah, here’s your fake gun and let’s catch the bad guys together.’ I was like, ‘That’s great.’
FBI: International airs on CBS Tuesdays at 9pm ET.
