She’ll be replacing Sarah Clarke – aka Agent Tess Monroe.
NCIS continues to bolster its ranks by hiring former Blue Bloods star Jennifer Esposito.
Esposito will have a full-time role on the procedural this year as Special Agent Alex Quinn, a gifted Law Enforcement Training Center instructor called back into the field by Gibbs (Mark Harmon).
Producer Gary Glasberg announced: “We couldn’t be happier to have Jennifer Esposito joining us for season 14. She embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we can’t wait to have her come be a part of our team.”
Esposito’s hiring comes as Sarah Clarke leaves NCIS, having debuted last season as the world-weary agent Tess Monroe (via TVLine).
This new job also brings Esposito back to network CBS, despite being famously dropped from Blue Bloods four years ago as she battled celiac disease.
Esposito publicly blasted CBS for “shameful behaviour” at the time, claiming: “CBS PUT me on unpaid leave and has blocked me from working anywhere else after my doctor said you needed a reduced schedule due to Celiac.
“CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw!
“After a week off, my doc said I could return to work but CBS implied that I was NOT truly ill and this was a scheme to get a raise! It’s been almost two months without bringing me back to work + keeping Me from working anywhere else!”
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However, all seems to have been forgiven with the passage of time.
NCIS inked a two-year renewal earlier in 2016, when leading man Mark Harmon re-upped with the network.
Joining the drama this season as well will be Wilmer Valderrama, a replacement for the recently-departed leading man Michael Weatherly.