Why Peter Sarsgaard Is Leaving Presumed Innocent After 1 Season

Peter Sarsgaard enjoyed his time on Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent, but he doesn’t plan to return for more seasons.

Sarsgaard, 53, confirmed his exit after the series was renewed, telling IndieWire earlier this month, “[I’m] not really that interested in sequels. I think I’ve only ever done one season of anything. I think I’m a one-season person.”

The actor noted that he has gotten “very good at saying hello and saying goodbye” throughout his career.

“There’s a very valuable thing in saying goodbye because then you have to look for another source of inspiration and then you change,” Sarsgaard explained. “I get asked all the time, ‘Did I gain weight? Lose weight? Grow a beard?’ All of that. I’m sort of just doing all of that all the time.”

After working on a wide variety of TV and movie projects over the years, Sarsgaard learned an important lesson. “If I were playing something over and over again, I would have to keep coming back to the same territory,” he added. “I’ve actually found that acting has been really valuable in terms of just being a person, and I think part of it is that I’ve had all of these really interesting experiences not just playing different characters but collaborating with different people.”

Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent premiered in June and follows a prosecutor named Rusty (Jake Gyllenhaal), the prime suspect in the murder of his colleague due to their affair. Sarsgaard, who is married to Jake’s sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, in real life, played fictional Chicago prosecutor Tommy Molto in the case against Rusty.

“To me, I’m not a villain in that. I’m just a guy who lives by himself. I’m playing a decent person in that,” Sarsgaard said. “And actually during the run of Presumed Innocent, I did a Q&A at one point and someone was like, ‘How are you so creepy?’ and stuff, and I really object to it.”

While Sarsgaard isn’t returning to the show, he still had a great time sharing the screen with Jake, 43. “For two characters also that have an antagonistic relationship, it’s nice that underneath — I think what you feel is people only argue like that if they care about each other on some level,” he concluded. “And that just existed the entire [time].”

Jake, for his part, recently praised his brother-in-law as a scene partner. He said on the Today show in June that Sarsgaard “demands an honesty, not only as a brother, but also particularly as an actor.”

“I love working with Peter,” Jake shared. “You just know you’re working with someone who is up for anything and it’s like joy.”

Presumed Innocent is now streaming on Apple TV+.