Mekhi Phifer is leaving Lie to Me after two seasons, according to Entertainment Weekly. The departure comes after a pivotal plot change happens in the third season.
The Lightman Group, led by Tim Roth’s character Lightman, will part ways with the FBI in the upcoming season. Phifer plays Special Agent Ben Reynolds and now that the FBI is no longer a part of the show, Phifer is no longer a part of the show.
“We’re going rogue a little bit. Lightman [Tim Roth] is going to act slightly in the more old-school PI model of a TV protagonist, [so] we’re doing away with the FBI contract [and] Mekhi is unfortunately no longer going to be on the show,” David Graziano, the show’s executive producer, said.
No word yet on how the change will be implemented into the show, but Graziano did explain his decision to make the switch.
“The FBI franchise limited our storytelling a little bit because it had to adhere to the FBI structures of ‘Would the FBI take this case or not?' The character that’s going to be our badge this season is a bent cop, Wolowsky, who goes about business in a similar way to Lightman. There’s a mutual respect from the get-go. We’re working hard to make The Lightman Group a dysfunctional family,” Graziano added.
Phifer told The Los Angeles Times earlier in the summer that he enjoyed the development of his character over the past season.
"He's not as abrasive as he was at the beginning, because now he's starting to see that Lightman's techniques churn out good results. And vice versa, he's learning to trust my character...It's always a great thing when you can have a character arc, and you give the audience something different that really brings insight to the character and helps you understand their motivations." Phifer said.
Phifer starred on ER from 2002-2008 and appeared in films such as 8 Mile and Honey.