Elizabeth Mitchell is about to cause a fuss on FBI: International.
The veteran actress is talking about her appearance on the hit drama as Forrester’s long-missing, supposedly traitor mother. Her appearance is likely to kick the freshman season of the series into a bold new direction.
Forrester and his mother issues
The second episode of FBI: International had new team member Vo discovering why leader Scott Forrester (Luke Kleintank) was so determined on missions. It was because of the man’s complex backstory.
In 2005, Forrester’s mother, Angela Cassidy, was a foreign office authority alongside Forrester’s father. With no warning, Angela stole classified material and then vanished with the assumption she sold them to Russia.
Since then, Forrester has had to live with the burden of being the son of one of the most infamous traitors in modern American history. He’s tried to brush it off, but it clearly haunts him.
Forrester learned his mother had been spotted in Moscow but was ordered from looking into it further. That made him convinced there was more to the story than there seemed.
In the last episode, Forrester began receiving messages tied to his past. In the final scene, he was finally confronted in a bar by Angela, a meeting Forrester had been expecting.
Playing the role is Elizabeth Mitchell, well known for TV shows like Lost, V, and Revolution. Speaking to TV Fanatic, Mitchell previewed her role and how it may change what everyone thinks of Angela.
“Everyone seems to think that she is indeed a traitor. So I think that what we’ll have to figure out is, is she or isn’t she? And it’s sort of an ongoing idea, for the most part. I know how she feels about it, but I think that from the audience’s perspective, we’ll find out a lot of what she believes. And as they do, in the way that they write things, there’s still mystery, which I really quite like. Especially when you have such a long buildup as to who is his mom? Where did she go? What happened? All of those things have been talked about.”
Obviously, the arrival of his mother is going to shake up Forrester’s own issues on cases.
What does Angela want on FBI: International?
The key question is if Angela truly betrayed her country or if there’s more to her actions than there seems. Mitchell stated that she started by watching the show, especially studying Kleintank so as to know how to play being his mother.
“I had that idea that if I was watching him, it was almost like his mom kind of watching over for him, in a weird kind of way. Right? You get to see what your child is doing.”
Mitchell added this helped her understand Angela, whose motives may not be what they seem.
“But that’s always been my method is to really, really dig down… What do I want? What is against me? Why can’t I get what I need? Those things. And they seem to let the rest of it just be easy. Right? Natural, easy. Once the work is done, then you just get to play.”
Forrester is already dealing with a breakup from his teammate Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed). While Kellett had been supportive of Forrester hunting for his mom, she may be concerned this is a distraction from cases.
Mitchell is more tight-lipped on what Angela will do but with her signed to a recurring role, it’s likely she’ll be causing more trouble.
“You get some things answered, and you wonder more things,” the actress stated.
Much like her role, Mitchell maintains an air of mystery around the part that will make watching her on FBI: International more exciting.
FBI: International Season 1 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.