“This feels right” - When NCIS: Los Angeles star Barrett Foa opened up about his exit from the show

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 finale in 2021 marked the final appearance of a fan-favorite character. Barrett Foa, who played the technical operator Eric Beale, said goodbye to the series after 12 long years.

The exit left fans heartbroken, as Eric's technical expertise and his poor attempts at humor had become a highlight of the show. At the same time, his romance with his teammate Nell Jones was also one of the most-talked-about plots of the series.

When Barrett Foa left NCIS: Los Angeles, he had an interview with TV Line, in which he revealed that he was always aware that his character’s time was coming to an end on the show, as it was a mutual decision between him and the series creators:

“It was just sort of clear that we were, like, winding down this character during this season, so I think we sort of mutually were like, ‘This feels right.’”

Barrett Foa once talked about his character Eric Beale’s exit from NCIS: Los Angeles

In NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 18, Eric Beale left his team after creating a computer software that gave him an opportunity to move to Tokyo, Japan, and run his own tech company. Meanwhile, he offered a position at the company to Nell Jones, and the two exited the show together.

Comparing himself to his character, Barrett Foa said in his interview that the COVID-19 pandemic gave him a chance to try out different things. Just like Eric had taken a new step in his career, he was also exploring new horizons in real life:

“I know the pandemic was a tough and strange time for everyone, but it sort of gave me time to do some real good work on myself, so as Barrett I was out exploring and adventuring.... Kind of like what Eric Beale was doing!”

Further talking about how Eric’s storyline in NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 mirrored what he was going through in real life, Foa said:

“He was getting into all kinds of crazy stuff in his new billionaire life, and I was sort of living my best life in the interims, in between the seven or eight episodes that I did this season. It was a nice little parallel reflection there.”

The actor parted ways with the show on an amicable note, and so did Renée Felice Smith, who played Nell Jones. Two years later, the show reached its conclusion. In Season 12 Episode 21, which served as the series finale, Renée Felice Smith made a guest appearance as Nell.

The creators later revealed that they planned to bring back Barrett for a final appearance as Eric as well, but things did not work out due to availability issues. However, the character was still mentioned in the finale as Nell told her team that Eric was busy with a TED Talk in Singapore.

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NCIS: Los Angeles was the second series in the NCIS franchise and aired 14 seasons between 2009 and 2023. Apart from Barrett and Renée, the procedural drama starred Chris O'Donnell as G. Callen, LL Cool J as Sam Hanna, Daniela Ruah as Kensi Blye, Linda Hunt as Henrietta "Hetty" Lange, Eric Christian Olsen as Marty Deeks, and Medalion Rahimi as Fatima Namazi.

For more interesting features about NCIS: Los Angeles, stay tuned to Soap Central.

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