‘Quantico’ Season 3 Loses Major Character, Aunjanue Ellis Not Reprising Role
Quantico Season 3 will premiere next month after its extended hiatus but without one of its major characters. Actress Aunjanue Ellis, who portrayed the role of Miranda Shaw is not coming back for the third season of the ABC drama. Ellis is among the original cast members of the terrorism drama.
Ellis has been portraying the role of Miranda Shaw, the ex-assistant director of the FBI Academy at Quantico since the show premiered in 2015. TVLine previously reported that the actress' screen time in Season 3 will be reduced, which means she will no longer be billed as a series regular. Now, it has been confirmed that she already exited the series.
Meanwhile, Ellis has been cast to lead the CBS new drama titled Chiefs along with Alana De La Garza. The brand new TV show will explore the professional and personal lives of three successful women who are Chiefs of Police of their respective precincts in L.A. County. They will work together to create a task force to hunt a dangerous serial killer.
Who Will Return and Leave Quantico Season 3
Series regulars Priyanka Chopra (Alex Parrish), Jake McLaughlin (Ryan Booth), Johanna Braddy (Shelby Wyatt), and Russell Tovey (Harry Doyle) are all coming back in the upcoming season. However, other series regulars Yasmine Al Massri and Pearl Thusi will not return in Season 3. Massri played the role of twins Nimah and Raina Amin and was an original cast from the pilot but she joined the show in Season 2 as Dayana.
Massri and Thusi's departure was announced last year as part of the show's creative overhaul under new showrunner Michael Seitzman. Ellis's departure is also part of the continued shakeup in the series. Meanwhile, there are also reports that Seitzman is also planning to make changes in the series' narrative.
New Characters
If there are characters who left Quantico, there are new allies and possible enemies to Alex and the gang in Season 3. Newcomers are Switched at Birth star Marlee Matlin and The CW's Beauty & the Beast actress Amber Skye Noyes. Musician/actor Alan Powell and The Michael J. Fox Show actor Vandit Bhatt are also joining the cast.
Matlin will play the role of ex-FBI agent, Jocelyn Turner, who has a connection to a series villain. Powell will portray undercover agent Mike McQuigg, who will infiltrate a white supremacist group. Both Noyes and Bhatt have been cast for recurring roles of Celine Fox and Jagdeep Patel, respectively.
Quantico Season 3 will premiere on April 26 at 10/9c on ABC.