Mindhunter Season 3: Bill Tench Actor's Candid Response to Cancellation

The Lead Star's Response

Mindhunter season 3's cancelation receives a candid response from one of its lead stars. Produced by David Fincher, who also served as the show's most frequent director and de facto showrunner, the series follows the two fictional FBI agents, Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who pioneered the development of criminal profiling by interviewing imprisoned serial killers during the late 1970s. The series released two seasons on Netflix in 2017 and 2019, but in 2023, David Fincher confirmed Mindhunter season 3 was officially canceled at Netflix.

Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford holding up a picture and Holt McCallany as Bill Tench in Mindhunter

Now, a year later, McCallany shared his candid response to Mindhunter season 3's cancelation in an interview with Awards Daily. The Bill Tench actor 'understands' and 'accepts' the decision to cancel the show, but remains open to returning should Mindhunter season 3 happen, though he doubts it will. Read his full comments below:

McCallany's Thoughts on the Cancellation

Did I want Mindhunter to be canceled after two seasons? Uh, no, but that’s not my decision. That’s my friend David’s (Fincher) decision. And if that’s David’s decision, that’s David’s decision. I understand, and I accept, and I move on. I remain grateful, and I mean this sincerely, for the opportunity to have made Lights Out, for the opportunity to have made Mindhunter, even if they didn’t last as long as I might have hoped, I still got to be there, and I’m proud of the work that we did. You’re talking about my two favorite projects. Let me prattle on just for five more seconds. I loved making those shows, and I can only hope that at some point in my career, there’ll be something else that I feel as strongly about as I do about those two television series, because not all series are created equal. Let’s face it. Most of them are pretty forgettable. I don’t think you can say that about Mindhunter. And for the boxing fans and for the people out there who really love the fight game, I think the same can be said for Lights Out.

I’ve heard that David’s thought about it. I’m not saying it’s going to come back. But what I am saying is that if it comes back, I’m coming back with it. You can take that to the bank, but it’ll depend on what David wants to do. It’s been a few years now, so it’s probably unlikely, but just even that he would think about it is a hopeful sign.

Why Mindhunter Was Canceled

Mindhunter is one of the most acclaimed series to ever air on Netflix, with season 1 holding a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and season 2 topping that with a near-perfect 99 percent score. The series lost momentum in 2020 when a potential third season was put on hold by Fincher as he pursued other projects, such as his movies Mank and The Killer, both of which were released on Netflix. Though Mindhunter season 3 was put on indefinite hold, there was a possibility that Fincher would revisit the series in the future.

However, in February 2023, Fincher confirmed the series was officially over. Despite being one of Netflix's most highly-rated shows, Mindhunter never garnered enough of an audience to justify its cost. The show's period setting, which required extensive production design and VFX, made the cost of production pricier than most Netflix content. Due to Fincher's busy schedule and the show's costly budget, Mindhunter has unfortunately joined the growing list of prematurely canceled Netflix shows.

Mindhunter seasons 1-2 are streaming on Netflix. Source: Awards Daily