Station 19's Jay Hayden is excited about his on-screen dynamic with real-life friend Jesse Lee Soffer in FBI: International Season 4

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Station 19's Jay Hayden is excited about his on-screen dynamic with real-life friend Jesse Lee Soffer in FBI: International Season 4

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for FBI: International Season 4, Episode 7.The most recent installment of FBI: Internationaltitled “Keen as a Bean”, it aired on Tuesday, December 10 and introduced a new character to the Fly Team. Wes' former colleague, Tyler Booth, seeks help in a case involving a former police officer on America's “Most Wanted” list. The fugitive's name is Ed Haskins and he is guilty of blackmailing other police officers with sensitive, often fake photos, resulting in several police suicides. Now that Wes has assumed a leadership position, Tyler struggles to respect his authority.

Although the characters clash throughout the hour, they manage to work together and get the job done. Tyler is assigned to the Fly team for 90 Days, but Jay Hayden jokes that Wes' old partner won't make it easy for him. Hayden shares his enthusiasm for Tyler and Wes' on-screen dynamic as it influences the real-life friendship he has had with Jesse Lee Soffer for sixteen years. Now that Csonka is returning FBI: International late fall, there are plenty of opportunities for the characters' new work dynamics to be tested.

TelaRant interviews Hayden about acting alongside Soffer, what to expect during Tyler's time on the series, and whether he'd like to return to the Station 19 universe through Grey's Anatomy.

Tyler will make the Fly team leader's job more difficult in FBI: International Season 4

“He’s not doing things the same way as his ex-partner, and that’s something he needs to learn.”


Booth Working at the FBI: International Season 4, Episode 7

ScreenRant: Since you and Jesse Lee Soffer are friends in real life, what excited you most about your FBI: International dynamic?

Jay Hayden: Honestly, as soon as we started reading the scripts and saw that these two characters exchange a lot of shit, I was like, “Oh, thank God. our real-life friendship.” And so you would never think that you could act with one of your closest friends. I've said this a lot, but Barrett Doss and I are close friends now, but we started working together.

Jesse and I have been friends for sixteen years, so first of all, our first scene together was hilarious. I didn't know what to do. I thought, “That's more eye contact than we've made in a decade, man. Really weird.” And we kept laughing and laughing, but it was really cool and really fun. And also [it’s having] an actor who speaks the same language. I would ask him, “Right now, when I'm saying this, do I want to tie it to this,” and he kind of speaks the same actor language as I do, which is really helpful on set.

What was your first impression of Tyler when you read the character description and read the script for 407?

Jay Hayden: I loved it because it was a change and something very new from what I've been playing for almost the last decade, which is a super likable character that everyone loves. Tyler doesn't do things the right way all the time, and his tactics and the way he feels that maybe the bad guys should be caught are sometimes not within the bounds of the law.

Some of the other team members are a little suspicious of him, and I like that. I like playing the darker version of a character. At Station 19, when Travis walked into the room, everyone said, “Yay, okay!” Here, Tyler comes up with an idea and everyone's like, “That's a horrible idea, man. Who is this guy?” And I like playing it. I like being the guy that not everyone trusts.

There are many differences between Tyler and Wes. His character is much more difficult for Kelsey. Do you think it's because he has that darker, less trustworthy side?

Jay Hayden: Yeah, he probably has less patience with the law. He has less of what makes Wes a great leader and what made him GS-14. There's a reason Tyler hasn't done this yet, right? He's not doing things the same way as his ex-partner, and that's something he needs to learn. Or will he learn? I don't know, but we'll find out. I think that kind of behavior and some of that kind of energy from Tyler will continue to show up on the show, which, in a fun way, will make Wes' job more difficult.

Tyler May Have a Negative Influence on Wes in FBI: International's Fall Finale

“Now he has someone in his ear saying, 'Whatever it takes, whatever it takes. Who cares? No one will know.'”


The Fly Team on FBI: International Season 4, Episode 7

We find out that he is a father and we see that he has a softer side to it. Can you talk about that shift as you go from an affair to something personal with his daughter involved?

Jay Hayden: What connected me most to this character is his relationship with his daughter and how much that means to him and how reactive he can be. Because even though Tyler can be a real jerk sometimes and lose control, he's redeeming the audience and redeeming me just because he loves his daughter so much and just wants to protect her.

He would literally do anything. So that's what I love about the character. This will continue to appear. His daughter – her advice part about how she takes care of her parents is something I really enjoyed playing and something he needs her to put him down on.

The recent episode has the team wondering if Wes' friendship with Booth affects his decision-making. What do you think?

Jay Hayden: Yeah. I think because they were partners for so long, they were equals for so long, and they had each other's backs, and they did a lot of things back then and they were friends – it's very difficult now that the dynamic has changed to change that. They are still operating as if even though the titles have changed and the jobs are different. It will keep colliding.

Well, Csonka is coming back in the mid-season finale and goes after Vo…

Jay Hayden: That's a perfect example. As everything becomes more personal for Wes, will Tyler's counseling be positive or perhaps lead him to a more negative place? Maybe the devil is on your shoulder – that voice gets louder and louder. Now he has someone in his ear saying, “Whatever it takes, whatever it takes. Who cares? No one will know.”

You're 90 days into Fly Team, so what else can you tease about Tyler's arc?

Jay Hayden: As the cases become much more extreme and intense, Booth's presence will really test not only the bad guys, but it will also test the Fly Team, because not everyone on the Fly Team agrees with the way Booth operates, and I ' I'm not sure he'll completely conform to the way the Avengers do things. [Laughs]

FBI: International season 4 will see Tyler clash with Smitty

“I think you'll be able to watch it unfold.”


Smitty looking at Booth in FBI: International season 4, episode 7

Would you say there's anyone Tyler conflicts with the most?

Jay Hayden: Yes, definitely. And I think you'll be able to watch this unfold. Smitty and Booth will be two waves that collide.

Have you finished filming all the scenes for the show?

Jay Hayden: I'm back in Los Angeles and filming my portion, for now, of the show.

Do you still have questions about your character that you hope to get answers to in the future?

Jay Hayden: I definitely have a few more questions about the character and I think the audience will have questions as well that I hope they all get answered.

We're so excited to see you in this new role, but we also love Station 19 and I miss Travis. Grey's Anatomy is still around… would you like to revisit this character again?

Jay Hayden: I will always love this world. I will always love Shonda and Shondaland. They know they can always call me. I will always go back there. I really love playing Travis and I worked really hard to create this character, and I enjoyed every day doing it. So that door is never closed. It's all just, “When would you like me to show up?”

About the CBS procedural drama FBI: International

Created by Derek Haas and Dick Wolf

From Emmy winner Dick Wolf, fast-paced drama FBI: International is the third iteration of the hit FBI brand that follows the elite agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's International Fly Team. Based in Budapest, they travel throughout Europe with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they are, putting their lives at risk to protect the USA and its people.

Check out our latest FBI interviews below:

FBI: International Season 4 airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT on CBS and is available to stream the next day on Paramount+.

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