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The West Wing delved into the cut throat world of American politics with fictional President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) leading the way. Underneath the President though was the team of advisers who often had their personal lives entangled with their professional duties. The NBC series won a plethora of awards and global praise during its seven year run but actor Richard Schiff was far from impressed with a particular element of how the show finished.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The West Wing.

Why did actor Richard Schiff leave The West Wing?

Actor Richard Schiff may now be known for starring in The Good Doctor as Dr Aaron Glassman, he originally became a household name thanks to The West Wing.

He portrayed none other than director of communications Toby Ziegler, which won him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2000.

Toby had been in the drama from the very beginning, and was a no nonsense straight-talker, and both a loyal employee and companion of the President.

So when Schiff read the script for the end of The West Wing, he felt his character had been let down.

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Schiff said how in the later episodes, his and his colleagues’ episodes were cut down which he claimed was “purely a financial decision” as they were “expensive actors”.

This decrease in air time meant a lack of a build up to the shocking moment where fans found out Toby had betrayed the President by leaking extremely confidential information.

For Schiff, this felt like an inaccurate portrayal of his character which he had spent years developing throughout The West Wing.

“I was sad for the show,” he said. “I hated my storyline.

“Toby would never in 10 million years have betrayed the president in that fashion.”

Schiff continued: “Even if he had, there would have been seven episodes’ worth of fights before he did it.

“In the end, the only way I could make sense of my story was to come up with my own story – that Toby was covering for someone else.

“That, at least, made sense to me.”

While fans were left disappointed when The West Wing did come to an end, actor Schiff did open up about a potential reboot being on the horizon.

Speaking to Popcorn Talk Network’s I Could Never Be, Schiff said: “I’ve pitched it [the reboot idea] to Aaron [Sorkin, The West Wing creator]. He loved it.”

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Schiff explained: “I don’t think it should be in the White House. I think that’s overcooked. My image of a show in the White House now is something like House of Cards, which is more apropos for the current administration — and Veep.

“You know, you combine Veep and House of Cards and you got, you got this administration.

“It’s a great idea… Where does politics really happen? And that’s the question.

“And especially in this era where there’s such an excitement in the grassroots level and on the local level, and, and it really all happens in the state level.”

So could there really be a reboot of The West Wing on the way?

The West Wing is available to watch on NBC.

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