Would The Blacklist's Ryan Eggold Return As Tom Keen? Here's What The Actor Says

Ryan Eggold was already a familiar face on NBC before he signed on as star of medical drama New Amsterdam, thanks to his role as Tom Keen on The Blacklist. He was a key part of the series and even the star of its spinoff, but was ultimately killed off in a heartbreaking Season 5 twist. Tom's death didn't mark Eggold's final appearance on The Blacklist, however, and death doesn't have to mean the end of a character on The Blacklist. Now, the actor has weighed in on whether he would reprise his role again.

I spoke with Ryan Eggold ahead of the Season 3 premiere of New Amsterdam, on which he plays medical director Max Goodwin, and I couldn't help but note that Max is very different from Tom Keen over on The Blacklist. With the plot twists of The Blacklist getting twistier than ever in Season 8 and already scoring a renewal for Season 9, it's not hard to imagine ways that The Blacklist could revisit Tom. Despite Tom being very dead since being killed off in Season 5, Eggold weighed in on whether he would reprise his Blackliist character:

I'm pretty sure he's dead as a doornail as well. But, you know, I think the chances of seeing him perhaps one last time is not totally out of the realm of possibility. But I of course have no idea, and I can't wait to see the conclusion. I mean, they're going again for a season and I'm excited to see how they end that story because it's been such a journey. It's such a mystery and so many moving parts.

The Blacklist went pretty far in establishing that Tom's death wasn't in any way faked, but Ryan Eggold also reprised the role once already since Tom's death as a vision of Liz's, and his comments about possibly seeing Tom again definitely leave the door open. Whether he could return via vision or dream or flashback or some other way, the possibilities on a show like The Blacklist are endless even though he's no longer alive. I do feel comfortable ruling out an Eggold return because Tom has had an evil twin all along, though!

Of course, Ryan Eggold is busy elsewhere on NBC thanks to New Amsterdam, which is heading into its third season, and Max Goodwin is about as different from Tom Keen as possible for two characters played by the same actor. That's not to say that starring in New Amsterdam has tarnished the memory of playing Tom. Eggold continued talking The Blacklist, saying:

But yeah, that character was a joy to play obviously just because the character himself was a chameleon, and got to put on different masks and different walks and talks and things, so it was a real, real pleasure.

Whether or not Ryan Eggold ever returns to The Blacklist remains to be seen; a lot has happened in Liz's life since Tom's death, including the death of yet another loved one. The murder of her mom set her on a warpath against Red, whose illness may or may not be a game-changer as the current Season 8 continues. As for Eggold, you can find him back on NBC with the Season 3 premiere of New Amsterdam on Tuesday, March 2 at 10 p.m. ET.

New Amsterdam actually had to make some changes at the end of Season 2 due to the same production shutdowns that impacted a lot of the television industry back in the spring of 2020, and the Season 3 premiere will feature Max and Co. dealing with the pandemic... and more, as if that wasn't enough! Check back with CinemaBlend for more from Ryan Eggold on New Amsterdam, and check out episodes on Tuesdays at 10 pm. ET.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).