“It’s like when they say your life exceeds your dreams,” Denison says, “that’s what’s going on right now for me.” He went on to discuss his character and what Kyra Sedgwick’s leaving means for the show. “You know, I love playing this character. I’ve been fortunate enough to play it for seven years, worked with really good actors and had a really good female lead on the show, Kyra. And now Kyra leaves and we go to a really good female lead in Mary McDonnell. And lest people forget, Mary McDonnell was nominated for Academy Awards twice. And that didn’t happen because people felt sorry for her. They did it because she’s really, really good.”

Read the whole interview here.