Max Thieriot was known to fans as Clay Spenser on SEAL Team before becoming Bode Leone on Fire Country. The actor appeared in six seasons of the military drama and exited following a great development deal for a pilot he’d pitched to CBS. The network picked up Fire Country, and Thieriot’s character was killed off in SEAL Team when the actor moved on. However, Thieriot revealed to Deadline that he had complex emotions when he left the series, since it taught him a lot as a young actor and an aspiring writer/producer/director. SEAL Team ended a season later.
“To see it end was tough,” Thieriot spoke of the show whose finale he hadn’t watched yet. “Also, it was difficult leaving that show, it has such an incredible cast and crew and just really, really wonderful people,” he added. “There’s definitely a major case of FOMO where I really felt like, what are these people who I spent every day with, what are they doing?” the actor revealed his feelings after leaving the drama.
‘SEAL Team’ Changed Max Thieriot Forever
Through the show, Thieriot made solid relationships with the cast and crew, and SEAL Team gave him a front row seat to impactful stories told about veterans. It opened doors for him as he formed a relationship with CBS and its production wing. “The show was a really incredible experience, one because I got to know everybody over at CBS Paramount and join the CBS Paramount family, and obviously, where those relationships and those friendships have taken me now has changed my career forever,” he said. He added about the impact it had on him, saying,
“But, the show also left a huge impact on me. It was a really humbling experience to get to work with all these veterans and to get to tell these stories that, I think, were really important and needed to be told to support the military community. I think that show did an incredible job of bringing a lot of things to light and bringing awareness for people, and to be able to be a small part of that and to tell some of these really impactful stories was life-changing for me.
“My hope is that with Fire Country, we can continue to do the same thing for firefighters and first responders and focus on some of those same human stories about real struggles, about families and how families are impacted.”
