ABC's anthology crime drama series "Secrets & Lies" has chosen actor Michael Ealy as its new leading man, Deadline reports.

Ealy comes to the show following a villainous turn on Fox's "The Following." He does not replace former lead Ryan Phillippe, who starred as Ben Crawford in Season 1, but rather, stars opposite Juliette Lewis who will investigate his character in a new murder case.

Lewis is the only cast member from Season 1 of "Secrets & Lies" to return for the second season.

In "Secrets & Lies" Season 2, Detective Andrea Cornell will take on a brand new case involving Eric Warner (Ealy) and the investigation into his wife's murder.

Well-educated and ambitious, Eric is the heir to his family's private equity firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Newly married to the love of his life, Eric attends a party to honor his father passing over control of the firm when tragedy strikes -- his wife Kate is murdered. Eric's life is turned upside-down.

In addition to "The Followers," Ealy previously starred in the TV series "Almost Human" and "Sleeper Cell." He will also star in the upcoming movie "The Perfect Guy," which is scheduled to be released in September.

Following the "Secrets & Lies" Season 1 finale, there was some confusion among fans as to why Phillippe would not return for the next season. Hollywood Life reports that Phillippe revealed during a Twitter question-and-answer with fans on May 3 that he would not return because the storyline involving his character Ben Crawford was only meant for one season. When a fan asked if there would be a Season 2, Phillippe tweeted, "Ask abc. My story ends tonight."

Now that Phillippe has wrapped up his term on "Secrets and Lies," the actor is devoting all of his time to releasing an app called Deedle that markets products to consumers via mobile games.