Even though it's been almost 15 years since the show premiered, NCIS still has a slot
on our TV screens every Tuesday night.
Some faces have come and gone over the years, while others have remained the same since
day one.
But they all have one thing in common: this was the show that truly brought them into
the spotlight.
Here's what the cast of NCIS was up to before they got the roles that changed their lives.
Mark Harmon
Thomas Mark Harmon grew up in Burbank, California, the youngest of three children to former Heisman-winning
football player Tom Harmon and actress Elyse Knox.
Football was his early passion, but the acting bug eventually hit.
Harmon has compiled a fairly impressive filmography in film and television.
He's spent a good deal of the last 13 years as, essentially, the face of NCIS, anchoring
the show's cast as steely-eyed special agent Leroy Gibbs since 2003.
Harmon has starred in more than 300 episodes of the series since its inception.
Pauley Perrette
Pauley Perrette was born in New Orleans, where she dreamed of one day being a rock star.
She also entertained the idea of getting into law enforcement, and went to college for criminal
science.
"I thought I was going to be a cop."
She finally did get the chance to become a cop — of sorts.
And she got to entertain millions of NCIS viewers as Abby Sciuto in the process.
Perrette was actually introduced into the NCIS universe during the last two episodes
of JAG, the Navy-focused show that preceded NCIS.
Michael Weatherly
Born in New York City, Michael Weatherly was a professional actor for over a decade before
landing the role of Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo in NCIS.
Prior to his breakout role, Weatherly built a solid career with a variety of memorable
supporting roles, including Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba, to whom he was engaged in 2001.
Weatherly has spent the intervening years consistently acting on NCIS and more recently
with the title role on CBS's Bull.
His relationship with Alba dissolved in 2003, but six years later, Weatherly married his
second wife, an internist named Bojana Janković, with whom he has two children.
David McCallum
Born in 1933 in Glasgow, Scotland, David McCallum grew up on a diet of classical music courtesy
of his parents, who encouraged him to pursue the musical arts himself.
"Hey, you're good."
"Of course."
At first, acting was only a hobby for McCallum.
He got a job at an opera house as an assistant manager, performed vocal work on the radio,
and finally broke into films in 1957.
He hasn't stopped since.
That's over 60 years in the industry, which may explain why he wears his role as NCIS'
Ducky Mallard as easily as a glove.
It also doesn't hurt that McCallum followed around real-life coroners to prepare for his
role as a medical examiner on the show.
Sean Murray
Sean Murray started his acting career early.
His first break came in the form of a starring role in the 1993 Disney classic Hocus Pocus.
But since he's long since lost the vintage '90s locks, he definitely hasn't lost the
deadpan charm that made him a breakout star on NCIS.
Like Pauley Perrette, he also has a connection to NCIS predecessor JAG, although Murray played
an entirely different character from his NCIS role of Timothy McGee.
Brian Dietzen
As a younger man, Brian Dietzen had dreams of Hollywood success, and the 2003 musical
comedy From Justin to Kelly gave Dietzen the chance to step onto the big screen.
Unfortunately, From Justin to Kelly is...one of the worst movies ever made.
But Dietzen managed to beat the odds and joined the main cast of NCIS the following year.
Dietzen has now spent more than a decade in the role of Jimmy Palmer, and although he's
also appeared in a handful of films, NCIS is still his most successful and long-running
gig.
Rocky Carroll
Rocky started out acting on the stage at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing
Arts, the first of two dramatic schools Carroll attended before moving to New York.
Carroll remains an actor with great credibility on Broadway as well as in the popcorn-movie
world of Hollywood, with an abiding love of Shakespeare that he's held since youth.
His character on NCIS, director Leon Vance, has appeared in all three iterations of the
series, including Los Angeles and New Orleans.
Lauren Holly
Raised in New York, Lauren Holly practiced cheerleading and studied English before getting
a start in acting at the age of 20.
She landed breakout roles on All My Children, Picket Fences, and Dumb & Dumber.
"So where you headed?"
“Aspen.”
"Hmm, California.
Beautiful."
Holly joined the cast of NCIS in 2005 and became a series regular until 2008, with additional
appearances in 2012 and 2015.
Holly now lives in Toronto with her three sons and has continued working steadily since
leaving NCIS.
Emily Wickersham
Born in 1984 in Kansas, Wickersham's midwestern roots play front and center in her role as
Ellie Bishop on NCIS.
Wickersham is in her fourth year with the show as of the making of this video, and it
remains her major focus going forward.
She took a shot at blockbuster fame with roles in I Am Number Four and 2012's Gone, but the
mixed reception for those films probably felt like a big step backwards compared to the
perpetual success machine that is the NCIS franchise.
Sasha Alexander
By all accounts, Sasha Alexander was born to be a performer.
She was acting in school plays by seventh grade, and on the side she tried out ice skating,
singing, and dancing.
These days, she's just about omnipresent on our TV screens, showing up on a number of
wildly successful TV shows such as Dawson's Creek, CSI, Friends, and Shameless, in addition
to her long-running gig on NCIS.
It's no shock that this great track record made her a lock for the 2016's People's Choice
Award for favorite cable TV actress.
Joe Spano
Now over 70 years old, Joe Spano got his start in the business in 1973 with an appearance
in George Lucas' classic American Graffiti.
But his main claim to fame was Hill Street Blues, on which he played one of the lead
roles for 144 episodes.
As FBI special agent Tobias Fornell, Spano has been weaving in and out of the NCIS narrative
since the very beginning, appearing whenever the writers deem it necessary for the FBI
to poke around in the NCIS' business.
Cote de Pablo
Born María José de Pablo Fernández, Cote de Pablo was born in Chile and lived there
for ten years before moving to Miami.
She was hosting her own talk show by age 15, which should probably make most of us a little
sad when you think about the typical teenager's way of passing the time.
“Good news guys, I spent all my money!”
“Troy, you can’t bring that in here!”
“Yes I can, it’s all-terrain, dummy!”
The actress left her role on NCIS in 2013 for unknown reasons and snagged roles in a
couple of films, including The 33, a dramatized recreation of a Chilean mining disaster.
For now, the world is full of projects for her choosing, so there's no telling where
she'll go next.
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