Tom Ellis reveals major details about his character in the FBI spin-off CIA, says ‘He’s a dual citizen’

Ever since the FBI spin-off CIA was announced, fans have been awaiting updates about the upcoming series. The show stars Tom Ellis in the lead role of a Central Intelligence Agency operative who does not like to play by the book.

However, he has to collaborate with a rule-following FBI agent on various cases. The show’s premiere was recently shifted from fall to the mid-season schedule, leaving fans disappointed.

As audiences wait for more details about the series, Tom Ellis has disclosed some details about his character, named Hart Hoxton, which had not been disclosed before. In an interview with Collider, Ellis stated that Hart hails from Britain and has dual citizenship despite being a CIA agent:

“My character is now British. He’s a dual citizen, but I speak with a British dialect in it.”

Tom Ellis reveals he plays a British man in the FBI spin-off CIA

Tom Ellis revealed that when he signed for the project, he thought Hart Hoxton was obviously going to be an American national, as he is a CIA agent. However, when he met producer Dick Wolf, the latter decided to change the character and make him a dual citizen. Ellis said:

“The biggest thing I’ll say about it so far is that initially my character was going to be American, obviously, because he’s a CIA agent. But I met Dick Wolf for about five minutes, in the flesh, and during that conversation, Dick was like, ‘Hey, Tom, we’ve got to make your character British.’ I was like, ‘Really? Do they have British people in the CIA?’ And he said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’”

Ellis is currently the only confirmed cast member in the show. His co-lead FBI agent has not been cast as of now. While the show had earlier set an October 2025 premiere date, CBS recently confirmed that the procedural drama will now debut during the mid-season schedule in early 2026.

The delay could be attributed to the change in showrunner, as original creator David Hudgins has been replaced by Warren Leight. CIA will start filming in September 2025.

During the interview, Ellis also talked about how the upcoming series will be different from other procedurals produced by Dick Wolf Productions. The actor said it will largely have a character-driven narrative:

“There will be some differences in this show to a lot of the other Wolf shows. We’re trying to lean a lot more into character stuff. The central relationship between my character and the FBI character is going to be very much a driving force for the show.”

He added:

“Even though we’re going to be a case of the week type of procedural, we’re going to spend a bit more time with our main characters than they traditionally do on a lot of these Wolf shows. I’m really looking forward to starting.”

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Tom Ellis is known for playing the titular character in the Netflix series Lucifer. He has also been seen in shows like Washington Black, Tell Me Lies, Rush, The Fades, and films like Isn't It Romantic and The Thursday Murder Club.

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