Jesse L. Martin to Lead NBC Pilot ‘The Irrational,’ Reduce Role on ‘The Flash’

Jesse L. Martin will star in “The Irrational” pilot for NBC, the network announced on Wednesday.

The actor, who has played Captain Joe West on The CW’s “The Flash” for eight seasons, is dropping from series regular to recurring for the ninth season of the superhero series and will still appear in “multiple episodes,” TheWrap has learned.

In “The Irrational,” Martin will play Alec Baker, a world-renowned professor of behavioral science who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, corporations and law enforcement. His world is turned upside down when he meets his match in a female domestic terror suspect. The pilot is based on Dan Ariely’s best-setting “Predictably Irrational” and the author is on board as consultant.

Martin’s previous series for NBC include “Law & Order,” where he played Detective Ed Green for almost 10 years, and “Smash,” on which he recurred as Scott Welker, the artistic director of a theatre company.

He just completed production on the biopic “Sexual Healing,” in which he plays the late R&B legend Marvin Gaye. The Tony winner originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical “Rent,” which he reprised in the 2005 film.

Martin is repped by ICM and McGowan/Rodriguez Management.

Arika Mittman is writer and executive producer on “The Irrational” pilot. Sam Baum and Mark Goffman serve as executive producers and Dan Ariely is a consultant. The studio is Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.