Emily Deschanel Cast as Lead in New Criminal Profiler Drama

Last week, NBC announced David Boreanaz would play Jim Rockford, and now Emily Deschanel has been cast in an untitled procedural pilot that could reunite the pair, 21 years after Bones debuted and nine years after it made its final bow. Deschanel will play Professor Georgia Ryan, a trailblazing psychologist who shifts the investigative focus to the victim to uncover clues traditional methods miss.

Alongside her team, this expert consults with the FBI to solve the most baffling and elusive cases. The project is loosely based on the life of Dr. Ann Burgess, the researcher who inspired Wendy Carr on Netflix’s Mindhunter. The role marks Deschanel’s first leading part on network television since Bones, where she played Temperance “Bones” Brennan opposite Boreanaz’s Seeley Booth.

She has since guest-starred on The Rookie, recurred on Animal Kingdom and led the Netflix miniseries Devil in Ohio. Writers Dean Georgaris and John Fox are attached to the pilot, which is a production of Universal Television.

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