Necar Zadegan has been kicking butt and taking names as Evelyn Foley in Mayor of Kingstown, and now she’s doing it again as Nikki Reynard in the new CBS procedural CIA. Nikki is the Chief of Station whose job it is to ride herd on the unlikely crossover between the CIA and the FBI, but that’s not all viewers will get to see her do. Necar’s casting makes Nikki a character to watch.

In an interview with TVBrittanyF.com ahead of the Feb. 23 series premiere, Necar spoke about taking on her first series regular role in a procedural since her stint on another CBS series. She teased how Nikki will not be riding a desk in CIA and what she’s loved about the job so far. Plus, what is it like for her to go between this role and her work on Mayor of Kingstown?

Brittany Frederick: CBS viewers know you well as Hannah Khoury on NCIS: New Orleans. What was it about CIA that brought you back to the procedural genre?

Necar Zadegan: I look at everything individually and for what it is, and I just thought overall it felt right. I liked the team and was excited about working again in New York. I also liked the international element of it and the possibilities that could give us as the story and seasons go on.

Typically, supervisor characters in procedurals sit behind a desk and give orders or exposition. Nikki Reynard in CIA is different. What can you say about the role she plays in the series?

So far, we have really been covering a lot of ground with Nikki, even a mission that takes her to Hong Kong in this last week we were shooting, and I do get excited about that. It’s very fun and throwback spy thriller stuff that I like. The character is exciting and sophisticated and full of adventure, so it gives us a lot of opportunities to keep going in that direction.

Another thing she provides is some comic relief, as there’s banter between Nick Gehlfuss’ character Bill and Tom Ellis’ character Colin, with Nikki stuck in the middle. You have some comedy chops from past shows like Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and Rake, so how much fun was it to get to use them on CIA?

I loved working on those shows, and I also just love that dramedy genre altogether, so many writers whose work I’ve loved that I watched as a young girl like Nora Ephron and Richard LaGravanese that made me see the beauty in that style. I welcome that whenever there’s opportunities for it.

The flip side of that is you’ve been doing some very, very serious stuff on Mayor of Kingstown the last few seasons, including Evelyn ending up in the hospital in Season 4. What has it been like to take a break from Evelyn to play Nikki?

We are about to start shooting the upcoming fifth season of Mayor, so I’m very much still in the middle of it and I’m really looking forward to it. I absolutely love that show and I’m so glad we are going to get to do it again. The characters and world are very rich and indeed intense, so shooting these concurrently will be a bit of a dance but luckily, I’m a dancer!

What’s been the most fun or interesting thing that you’ve learned from your CIA experience thus far?

I’m learning a ton about Brooklyn; that’s where we shoot a lot. I live in the city, but Brooklyn’s very charming and definitely has an edge on the view. Nothing like the Manhattan skyline from that side.

CIA airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

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