EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Esposito is exiting veteran CBS drama NCIS after one season as a series regular. She remains in the CBS family via her ongoing recurring role on Showtime’s The Affair as Nina Solloway, Noah’s (Dominic West) sister. Additionally, Esposito has booked a co-starring role opposite John Travolta in the feature Speed Kills for Hannibal Classics.
Esposito was introduced in the NCIS Season 14 premiere last fall. She played NCIS Special Agent Alexandra “Alex” Quinn, an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center. Gibbs (Mark Harmon) lured her back into the field as part of his team, taking advantage of her sharp wit, quick mind and immense talent as a federal agent.
“It was a great experience,” Esposito said in a statement to Deadline. “I could not have asked for a better opportunity than to work with the NCIS cast and producers.”
The character of Quinn was conceived by former NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg shortly before his death last September. I hear the show plans to go in a new creative direction next season.
Quinn was involved in one of the Season 14 finale cliffhangers, taking two calls from her mother whose contents were not revealed. They could presumably be used to explain Quinn’s exit from the team.
This was Esposito’s second series regular gig on a CBS drama following a stint on Blue Bloods whose end made headlines. She also starred on ABC’s Mistresses for one season.
The John Luessenhop-directed Speed Kills is based on the true story of speedboat racing champion and multimillionaire Don Aronow, who leads a double life that lands him in trouble with both the law and Drug Lords. Esposito will play Aronow’s (Travolta) wife. Saban Films has acquired the rights to the film for U.S. distribution.
Esposito, who authored the best-selling book Jennifer’s Way, has a cookbook, Jennifer’s Way Kitchen, coming out in September from Grand Central Publishing.
She’s repped by CAA and managed by Carissa Stewart at GSA Entertainment.
