The FBI's Missy Peregrym broke his silence after the hit CBS series took advantage of a shocking on-screen death.
In the Monday, March 16, episode of FBI, Maggie (Peregrym) had to face her first arrest – serial killer Ray DiStefano (Matthew Rauch) – who kidnapped his sister, Erin (Adrienne Rose Bengtsson). Maggie was ultimately unable to save her sister, whose body she found after thinking she was still alive.
“I was afraid to do this script. I was afraid to play this part, knowing what a dark place I would have to go to in order to survive at that time, and I really cared that if I had to go the distance that we did this as basic and real and as scary as possible,” said Peregrym. TV Insider about the surprising twist. “And it was amazing to work with him [the writers] understanding, what could be more sad? Originally, it was written that there was a little twist with Peter in the episode. I just felt like, 'Wow, how can you talk after you found your sister?'
Peregrym opened up about his concerns going into the episode.
“I just went to work and said, 'Okay, I know what I have to do today, but I don't know how I'm going to do this. I know where I have to go, but I don't know what my body is going to do,'” he recalled. “And we did it at the same time. … But I didn't look at Erin before. I didn't want to see her. I didn't want to know who I was – I didn't know anything. And so when I turned that corner and got into the truck, I was meeting that moment for the first time, and it was hell.”
The actor explained why it's “really important” to tell the story, adding, “Everyone has lost someone, we go through this a lot. Obviously it won't be the same situation, but that grief and fear and, oh, the worst feeling in the world. And I didn't want to end up thinking about it now because it's true.”
The FBIwhich premiered in 2018, focuses on the inner workings of the New York City regional crime office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where employees work to ensure the safety of New York City and its citizens.
“We are a procedural show, so we cannot go into the depth of the character, and I am very grateful to the writers for trusting me with this episode at the moment, I was afraid as I would do. And thank you – I did not see it,” continued Peregrym. “I'm thankful that it went well, but I hope people will deal with Maggie in the next chapter about how she has to stand up and how does she make her world after this great loss, not only of Erin, but of her career? How can she trust herself to go forward and be vulnerable or do her job without feeling loved or threatened again?”
Peregrym admitted that he “didn't ask why” Erin “didn't survive.”
“I can't go to a worse place for my character,” he commented. “So, thanks for that. I hope things go well from here.”
Looking forward, Peregrym made it clear that the personal loss will stay with his character.
“We talk about that, obviously, and it's still something I carry with me. I won't be the same to some extent. I won't. I won't be the same. It's also the reason why I'm so afraid to go too far with my character,” he continued. “To play something for eight years and suddenly lose it like this, you never go back to who you were before. You have to navigate a completely different set, I don't even know the rules, a set of understanding, trying to figure out where your place is. What can you hope for? And it's scary.”
Peregrym concluded: “We're not a character show where we sit in our living room and talk about everything. I choose to come to work because there's work to be done. So, finding those moments to have those conversations and find those things, but there are still cases to solve.”
The FBI airs on CBS Mondays at 9 pm ET.
