Getty Images
The former 'Good Wife' star joins the NBC series as Naz Kamal.
Archie Panjabi is trading in her knee-high boots for a bulletproof vest. As reported back in June, the former fan-favorite Good Wife actress has landed a new high-profile gig on the sophomore season of NBC's Blindspot. The Emmy winner makes her series debut this fall as Naz Kamal, the head of a secret division of the NSA who happens to have a particular interest in the Jane Doe case. That's because she's been following it from afar since the beginning.
Although few other details about the character are known just yet (other than the fact that she will actually wear knee-high boots at some point), showrunner Martin Gero explained at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that Panjabi is like the "soothing balm" that comes in and brings the team back together after the relationship between Jane (Jaimie Alexander) and Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) blew up last season.
The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive first look at her arc and, judging from her bulletproof vest and the very serious look on her face, this is a character who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty in the field.
Panjabi was slightly more revealing about her character during the TCA panel. "You will have to watch the series to see if there is any mystery or what the character is. I really like the character," she said. "She is tough. She is tenacious. She is wild. She’s unpredictable."
This first-look photo comes in addition to the season two promos NBC is running during the Summer Olympics, which tout Panjabi's addition to the cast and the show's big move to Wednesday nights.
"I can feel the clock is ticking down on this," she tells Weller in the quickest of shots. Ticking down on what, exactly? The answer to another tattoo? Getting Jane to trust the team again after they imprisoned her for Mayfair's (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) death? It seems as though most of the answers -- at least in terms of the big questions from last season -- will be answered with the second season premiere.
"Not only are you going to find out Jane’s first name in the first episode, you’re going to find out what Orion is, who Shepherd is, what’s the plan of this organization, who Jane really is outside of her name," Gero added during the TCA panel. "If the first season was about who is Jane Doe, we want to answer those questions so we can move into what the second season is about, which I can’t really tell you because it is a spoiler if I say what the theme is, but we want to really reward the people that stuck with us all last season."
Blindspot returns Sept. 14 at 10 p.m. and moves to its regular time period on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Thoughts? Sound off in the comments below.
Twitter: @amber_dowling
Blindspot
