Dylan McDermott knew it was time to see the light.
Ahead of the season two premiere of CBS' FBI: Most Wanted, the actor exclusively revealed to E! News why he decided to take on the role of Fugitive Task Force boss Remy Scott after playing the evil Richard Wheatley in Law & Order: Organized Crime.
"I played a lot of good characters in my career, but recently, the last 10 years, I think they've been more questionable—certainly from American Horror Story to Organized Crime and some movies in there, so it was time to go back to the good," McDermott said. "So when Dick [Wolf] called me with this role, it was perfect timing, because I definitely needed to go back."
And although Remy and Richard couldn't be more different—Wheatley is a known crime boss, while Remy is a high-strung, law-abiding federal agent—McDermott said he approaches the characters in the same way.
"When I'm playing a bad guy, I tried to find what's good in him, and when I'm playing a good guy, I tried to find out what's bad in him," he explained. "Nobody's just good or no one's just bad. Because I don't think a bad guy says, 'Oh, I'm a bad guy.' They justify everything."
Law & Order fans last saw Wheatley disappearing in a car going over a cliff, though his body was never recovered. So, is this the last we've seen of McDermott's villain?
"I never say never," the actor teased. "These shows last for 25 years, so, in the next 25 years, can I end up back on Organized Crime? You never know."
But, since Remy and Richard both feature in shows created by Wolf, McDermott joked that one day the two could even meet—and Remy could "actually arrest Richard Wheatley."
"Wouldn't that be amazing?" he joked.
Season four of FBI: Most Wanted premieres September 20th on CBS, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. Season three of Law & Order: Organized Crime premieres Sept. 22 on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)