Luke Kleintank shares the real-life FBI: International actors are as close as the Fly Team.
The actor who plays Scott Forrester on the hit CBS spin-off opened up on how the cast bonded for the show and how that aided their performances.
He added his hopes for what Season 2 might bring for them all in terms of character development.
FBI: International and the cast bonds
While the first two FBI shows are set in the United States, FBI: International, as the title implies, takes place on a global scale.
It’s based on the real-life fact that the FBI has several hundred agents spread throughout the world who keep an eye on Americans abroad. The fictional Fly Team is given some authority to work investigations involving Americans, either as victims or suspects.
Forrester leads a squad with second-in-command Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed), Andre Raines (Carter Redwood), and Cameron Vo (Vinessa Vidotto). Katrin Jaeger (Christiane Paul) is their Europol liaison navigating working with other police forces.
The team is stationed in Budapest, with most of the show shot in Hungary (which occasionally doubles for other countries) although they have filmed on location in Europe.
Speaking to The List, Kleintank shared how working together in a foreign land helped bond the cast closer right off the bat.
“When we started this season, everybody was new, but this one was different because not only was everybody new, but everybody was moving their entire lives to a new country…It felt like it was a huge decision for everybody to take their lives and move it all the way to Budapest and start in a new place [where] actually none of us had ever been. It felt like a huge choice and a risk.”
As it happened, Kleintank realized the rest of the cast felt the same way and their bond over it led to a friendship that aided their performances.
“It turns out that we all were in the same boat and we all felt the same way, and we didn’t really know anybody else. We all depended upon each other for friendship, and luckily enough, you could work with actors that you don’t like, and you could work with people that you don’t vibe with. We were blessed enough to actually truly vibe with each other. We’re the fly team, and this is not me just saying this because it’s an interview or whatever. I’m being 100% truthful. Our actors team is, it feels like we are the fly team because we know nobody else. This is us. I’ve said it again and again, it’s like, life imitates art. We really are the best of the best. We go out, we hang out …
When that wraps on the weekend, me, Heida, Carter, Vinessa, we are out together. We’re having drinks. We’re going, we’re singing karaoke. We’re at each other’s houses. We depend on it. We actually depend on each other, which is rare, because if this show had been in the States, it’s easy to go back to your respective house and see your other friends that you know. We didn’t know anybody. It’s a forced friendship, but it actually became a real friendship.
That bond will be well served when the show returns in Season 2.
Kleintank on his hopes for Season 2 of FBI: International
Season 1 ended with Jaeger revealing she had gotten a promotion at Europol, meaning she could no longer be the team liaison. So far, there’s no word on whether this means the character is being replaced or somehow staying on in another capacity.
Kleintank hopes Season 2 delves more into the personal relationships of the team, especially Forrester and Kellett. The pair began the season as secret lovers with a breakup and a brief reunion and remain teammates.
“I really would like to see the team and the relationships and their stories and what they go through, and how they deal with it within the group of one another. It feels like we’re a unit, and I want to see more of that and the relationship, the inner relationship between all of them. The relationship between Raines and Forrester, we haven’t really seen that. When they’re outside of work, maybe that’s what I’m saying.
It’s the same thing where I’m talking about, as individuals and those people, it would be nice to see the characters evolve in their inner workings inside, what’s happening in their personal lives and how that transitions into work as well, as opposed to seeing them in the office and solving crime. [I’d love to see] how they work with each other through the dramas of their lives, and then maybe stepping outside of work and seeing what’s happening behind them.”
Season 1 left some issues up in the air, from Forrester and Kellett to Forrester’s spy mother (Elizabeth Mitchell) on the run.
However, Kleintank’s words show the bond the FBI: International cast has that should lead to an exciting Season 2.
FBI: International Season 2 airs Tuesdays this fall on CBS.