FBI: Most Wanted newcomer Dylan McDermott has admitted he has been reading fan comments - and promises Dick Wolf fans they won't be thinking about Richard Wheatley for much longer.
MORE: FBI: Most Wanted star Dylan McDermott shares the 'freedom' he had with new character
Dylan played crime boss Richard for a long season arc in Law & Order: Organized Crime but has now joined CBS's Most Wanted - a show that exists in the same world as Organized Crime - as the team's new leader Remy Scott, following the death of Jess LaCroix.
WATCH: Dylan McDermott joins FBI Most Wanted
Fans have been vocal about an actor switching between shows with vastly different roles, but Dylan told press on Wednesday that he "relishes" the challenge set by viewers.
"I have been reading comments from people saying, 'It is too soon, he's Richard Wheatley, he's a bad guy,' and I relish it. I love that people believe that I am him!" he said during a press conference on Wednesday.
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"Now they will see in me a very different light - these are wildly different people with different agendas in life."
Dylan continued: "I knew I had been playing questionable people and it was time to play someone good, and that is Remy Scott. He is fully realized when we meet him, he drives up and is in the action right way - and you will forget about Richard Wheatley by the end of episode 17."
Dylan will make his first appearance on April 12
He added: "When Most Wanted came around, I thought what a great opportunity to go from one Dick Wolf show to the next, and create an entirely different character.
"I had never seen it done before and thought it was cool, let's play with that. It's exciting for me as an actor to [play] a wildly bad guy into a character that is so noble."
Dylan played Richard Wheatley for a season-long arc on Organized Crime
Remy Scott is the newest head of the FBI's Fugitive Task Force, who returns to New York City for the job after working in Las Vegas and Philadelphia.
But there's a reason he left, and fans will soon discover Remy as he gets back in touch with his past including his mother and sister.
His introduction to the team is "awkward"
Dylan shared that he chose to not meet the cast before his first day on set because the "awkwardness" that was then shared worked out "beautifully" for the characters.
"It feels like we have hit the ground running in the first episode, and we were into a case right away so I think, as these are professional people, they know they have a job to do and they have feelings about me but that awkwardness diminishes after the first episode," he added.
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