NCIS: Los Angeles exclusive: Eric Christian Olsen on Barrett Foa’s return

Sunday night’s new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles season 11 is poised to be a big one. Why? It marks the return of Barrett Foa to the series as Eric Beale following a temporary absence. He’s been off doing a production of Angels in America, but he’ll be coming back for a thrilling story entitled “Kill Beale: Vol. 1” — one revolving around the character’s kidnapping while working undercover for Hetty in San Francisco.

If you love episodes that push the envelope and take some fun risks, we know that you’re going to enjoy this one, just as we know the cast was very excited to have Foa back. Take, for example, Eric Christian Olsen. Speaking to CarterMatt earlier today, he told us how happy he was to have Foa back, and also explained that the accommodating nature of the show and the producers only makes the end product better:

Angels in America is one of my favorite plays. For him to do that deep dive on that kind of work and come back … It’s life experience. When you come back, that plays out in everything else we do. Those kind of opportunities that CBS, [R. Scott Gemmill] and [John Peter Kousakis] and our writers gave him the opportunity to go do are so human. It’s such a wonderful example of humanity. This is a big hit TV show that has serious restrictions and they always choose the human element. In this case, that human element was giving Barrett the opportunity to go do Angels in America and our show is better because of it.

When Barrett comes back, he carries with him that confidence. The reason that episode in San Francisco is going to be so good is because he’s bringing that to this role. It was wonderful to have him back. We missed him deeply.

You can watch a sneak peek featuring Foa, over at the link here.

There’s more of our interview with Olsen coming up!

We will have our full interview with Olsen coming up next week, which will include discussions about him co-writing the 250th episode, stories about Linda Hunt, and what inspires him as both a writer and producer. We highly suggest that you stick around for that.

Also, be sure to watch our latest video below featuring more NCIS: Los Angeles discussion, in particular this time around about the character of Fatima. Be sure to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss out on our NCIS: Los Angeles videos! We even have an NCIS franchise playlist to make your search easier.

What do you want to see from Eric Beale’s return, and from Deeks moving forward on NCIS: Los Angeles?

Be sure to share in the comments, and remember to stick around to get some more news. (Photo: CBS.)