Connie Nielsen has been cast in a lead role in Dick Wolf‘s upcoming CBS drama series “FBI,” Variety has learned.
The series will detail the inner workings of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nielsen will star as Ellen, the FBI Special Agent in Charge. Described as a deeply respected boss, Ellen is elegant, cultured, and operates under massive political, public, and self-imposed pressure. She deals by being highly organized and disarmingly direct. She’ll do anything for her agents who earn it, and is impossible to intimidate.
She joins previously announced cast member Zeeko Zaki.
This is not the first time Nielsen has collaborated with Wolf. When Mariska Hargitay was on maternity leave from “Law & Order: SVU,” Nielsen stepped in to play the role of Detective Dani Beck during the show’s eighth season. She also recently appeared as Queen Hippolyta in both “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League.” Her other film credits include “Gladiator,” “The Ice Harvest,” and “The Devil’s Advocate.” She is set to appear in the upcoming TNT drama “One Day She’ll Darken,” which is being executive produced and directed by “Wonder Woman” helmer Patty Jenkins and will star “Wonder Woman” lead Chris Pine.
Nielsen is repped by UTA, Lasher Group, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman.
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CBS gave “FBI” a 13-episode order back in September. Shooting is slated to begin next spring on a pilot, with subsequent episodes set to film in the summer. The series is planned to premiere in the 2018-19 season. Wolf and Craig Turk will serve as executive producers with longtime Wolf collaborators Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski. Universal Television, where Wolf is based, will produce the series with CBS Television Studios.
