Published: August 21, 2024
This is what the NCIS stars think about the cast of the spin-off
By Movieguide® Contributor
The cast of NCIS: ORIGINS and NCIS got together to share career stories and answer fun questions, which turned into quite an entertaining conversation.
Brian Dietzen, who plays Jimmy Palmer on “NCIS,” recalled a wild driving stunt he had to do on “NCIS.”
“My character had to run over somebody and try to hit them properly,” Dietzen began, “and they put the camera right in front of it and asked, ‘Can you see that?’ and I said, ‘No, I can’t’ … and I thought, ‘Maybe I want to hit somebody properly.’ And they said, ‘We’ll get out of the way. It’s OK.'”
“And… so I just stepped on the gas and drove through, and in the shot Jimmy Palmer is all scared and screaming, and that… wasn’t an act,” Dietzen recalled as everyone laughed. “I was terrified that I was going to kill someone.”
Austin Stowell, who plays young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in ORIGINS, asked Katrina Law, who plays Jessica Knight in NCIS: “Katrina, if your character from NCIS met her younger self, what advice do you think she would give you?”
She joked that she would tell her character’s younger self not to date “a guy named Gage.”
“His abs may have been amazing, but the result wasn’t worth it,” she joked.
But in all seriousness, she said, “I would say life is racing by and sometimes you have to make decisions very quickly about where you want to be and what you want to be. And it’s OK to take a break. It’s OK to take a moment to breathe and navigate the turmoil.”
Movieguide® recently gave a little preview of NCIS: ORIGINS:
NCIS: ORIGINS “follows young Leroy Jethro Gibbs as he begins his career with the Naval Investigative Service, operating out of Camp Pendleton,” per ^ “IMDb – The Hidden World”.
The series is unique in the NCIS universe as it is the first show in the franchise to be set in the past and tell the backstory of already known characters. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any surprises.
“They don’t know as much as they think,” says Cross said of NCIS fans. “When you see Gibbs arriving at NIS on his first day and how Gibbs became Gibbs…? You’ll realize there’s so much to discover.”
After Caleb Martin Foote, who plays Benjamin “Randy” Randolf on ORIGINS, revealed a party trick, Gary Cole, who plays Alden Parker, mentioned that being on NCIS was a special experience, different from other shows.
“All I can say is that I didn’t know what to expect when I came to this show. I knew it had been going on forever. I didn’t really follow it, but I could immediately feel the pride and love that was there. It’s just palpable, you know? It has weight,” he told the ORIGINS cast. “It’s a different vibe walking onto a set that’s already had three, four presidents.”
“It spawned all these other shows. To me, the most important things about television that can make it successful are the story of a show or the characters,” he said. “It’s the immediate believability, you know? It’s an intimate relationship with the audience when something goes on for a while, and hopefully you know that part of that show is already embedded in your show and will continue. If I had to give advice, I’d just say keep that in mind. That’s all.”
Leon Carroll, who plays Rocky Vance, also had some advice for the new cast.
“…having been fortunate enough to be both in front of and behind the camera on our show, you can forge your own path, you know. And I always say this to actors, especially when…you get into something that has so much history, and you feel like, well, there’s all this and so many people connected to it and so many cooks in the kitchen, but as an actor, you know, you were cast for this. You were cast for this because you’re perfect for the role, and you have to remember that, and when you start to find your chemistry as a performer, you’re instinctively better than anyone else,” Carrol explained.
“That’s what the audience responds to and that’s what will make the show a success. That’s the advice I would give you,” Carroll said.
“One little thing is when you do crime scenes and stuff: You get latex gloves, you have to practice putting on those latex gloves,” joked Sean Murray, who plays Timothy McGee on NCIS.
Diona Reasonover, who plays Kasie Hines on “NCIS,” revealed her favorite Gibbs rule: Rule 91.
“‘There are no such things as coincidences,’ because I believe that in life, the things that are meant for you, are meant for you, and I’m so happy to be here in a room full of people who are meant for each other,” she said.
The “Engaged” episode of NCIS previously won a Movieguide® Teddy Bear Award®.
NCIS: ORIGINS will be released on October 14, 2024. The new series will differ from other shows in the NCISverse in several ways.
“Because we don’t have the DNA (forensic technology), we don’t have the same kind of forensics,” said showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal. “So it really comes down to character, even in our case of the week. Our show will also go home with our investigators and see how their personal lives affect their professional lives, which will be kind of a new element that we’re really bringing to the show because it allows for a deeper exploration of our characters and our world.”
And although Mark Harmon won’t be in front of the camera, he will still narrate the journey of his younger self in his familiar voice. He will also serve as an executive producer along with his son Sean.
“The character of Gibbs has been a big part of my life for 20 years, both because I watched my father create the role and because I previously had the honor of playing young Gibbs myself,” Sean said in a January press release. “I’ve always felt there was a story about his early years that was worth telling, so I’m thrilled to take on a producer role alongside Gina, David and my dad as we tell that story and reveal a new side of this beloved character.”
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