As FBI: International's Complicated New Case Introduces Smitty's Family, Eva-Jane Willis Shares What 'Never Gets Old' About The Show
The third season of FBI: International has been quite eventful for the members of the Fly Team in the 2024 TV schedule, to say the least, and the wild ride isn't nearly over yet. Ahead of the farewell to Luke Kleintank as Scott Forrester, the next new episode on May 7 will introduce Smitty's family when the team travels to London on a case, and it's not going to be a happy reunion for the Europol agent. That said, there's an element of the show that Eva-Jane Willis continues to love, and she opened up to CinemaBlend about what to expect.
The next new episode of FBI: International is called "Touts" and will take the team to the U.K. after a former member of the Irish Republican Army – who became a U.S. citizen – is killed. As the violence only increases, the agents must find the responsible parties, and none other than Smitty's mom might be key to finding somebody with a connection to the situation. The episode photos alone show Smitty and her mom aren't going to be on the greatest terms.
For Eva-Jane Willis, however, this episode meant getting to film in her native U.K., telling CinemaBlend that she felt "incredibly proud to be filming opposite Big Ben and outside Tower Bridge," and that she felt like she was "doing my city proud by bringing this huge American show over to our little streets of London." When I asked if traveling all over for the show ever gets old, the actress shared:
It never gets old. I have traveled more in the last six months than I probably have my entire life, and it doesn't get old because each new city is a treat and sometimes we visit three or four places in that country, not just one city. So not only do we get to see the world but our job is never boring. I've done jobs in the past before obviously where I've gone to the same place and sat in the same chair or done the same thing every single day. And that was all well and good, but this certainly isn't that. This is something different every day, which is great for me.
Given that FBI: International has been renewed for Season 4, hopefully Willis can count on continuing to do something different every day as part of the cast, whether or not that Chicago Med alum joins as a series regular. She certainly got to do something new for "Touts," which will be the first episode featuring members of Smitty's family, and there will definitely be tension with her mom, played by Pippa Haywood. The actress shared what it was like to play mother and daughter with Haywood:
First of all, I'm a huge Pippa Haywood fan, so as soon as I found out that our U.K. casting director Vicki Thomson had cast Pippa Haywood as my mum, I sent her an email saying thank you because I absolutely love her. It was a complete treat to work opposite her and she did a brilliant job. She made my job much easier. The relationship between Smitty and her mother is quite complex, a little bit passive aggressive at times. And they definitely know how to push each other's buttons and Pippa came in and did that beautifully, and then was also so charming as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, so she made me feel very at ease.
Smitty and her mom, Scarlett Garretson, may have a passive aggressive and complex relationship, but that wasn't the case for Eva-Jane Willis and Pippa Haywood in her guest-starring turn. Smitty's relationship with her dad will be a little different, but apparently, the three actors truly sold the family dynamic. Willis went on:
And my dad, played by Colin Mace, he was perfect casting as well. The two of them together, I really felt very much at home, and even Carter Redwood, who plays Raines, who was in one of the scenes with us, at one point we were all sitting around the table and he just looked at us all and he went 'I completely believe this.' [laughs] And it was really lovely. We all thought that that was a top day on this episode, but also just this season. That was a great day this season.
It sounds like Raines might be more comfortable with Scarlett and Terry Garretson than Smitty herself is, but fans will have to tune in on May 7 to find out for sure. It is safe to say that there's a reason why viewers haven't heard Smitty talking about her mom on a regular basis. Eva-Jane Willis said:
Smitty even says in the episode, she says she tries to avoid visiting her mother at all costs. She finds it very difficult to go home, and I think one of the real reasons she finds it so hard to go home is that she can't help but become a younger version of herself when she's there. Parents have that way of talking to you like you're still a teenager and you have that kind of automatic response where you act like a teenager when you're around your parents, even though you're a grown woman. And they have a bit of that going on, and I think Smitty hates that.
If it takes an IRA-related crisis for Smitty to reach out to her mom, it's not hard to believe that she usually tries to avoid Scarlett if she can help it! The actress went on, describing why Smitty reacts the way that she does in the episode:
She's come so far in life and built up so many walls to protect herself and become such a kind of guarded, unbreakable, badass woman, and she rarely shows any weakness. And I think as soon as she's in the face of her mother, she can't help but feel undermined and young again, in a way that she absolutely hates.
The last time that FBI: International visited the hometown of a Europol agent, the episode revealed a lot of about Christiane Paul's Katrin Jaeger. Whether that will be the case for Smitty in "Touts" remains to be seen, but you can check out the promo for a taste of what's to come:
Tune in to CBS on Tuesday, May 7 at 9 p.m. ET for the "Touts" episode of FBI: International, or stream via a Paramount+ subscription. The show is set to say goodbye to Luke Kleintank soon, although it's not yet clear how the show will set up that farewell for Forrester. As always, International airs between FBI at 8 p.m. ET and FBI: Most Wanted at 10 p.m. ET, all on CBS.
