Over 15 years into its run, NCIS has had members of the team kidnapped, shot, stabbed and even
blown up by terrorists — but one of the most shocking deaths came just two seasons
in.
Here's the real reason Sasha Alexander, who portrayed Kate Todd, left NCIS after season 2.
We know the NCIS team works long hours to catch the bad guys, but the people who make
the show are also pulling very long shifts, purely in the name of entertainment.
This detail slipped by fans, who were so furious when Todd was killed off that show creator
Don Bellisario weighed in on what happened behind the scenes.
He explained that he'd already started working on the script for the last episode of the
season when Alexander begged him to write her out of the show.
In July 2005, a couple of months after Todd's dramatic death aired, Bellisario shed some
light on the situation in a conversation with the Chicago Tribune, saying,
"Sasha came in two days before I was to leave, and with tears in her eyes, she said, 'I just
can't work this hard.'"
The showrunner admitted that NCIS is, quote, "a hard show to make.
We work very long hours."
He also added that although Alexander was technically under contract to CBS, he persuaded
the network's brass to let her go.
While Bellisario and Alexander knew what was coming, no one else knew about her departure.
Fans got wind that one of the NCIS team was going to die in the season two finale.
But exactly who it would be was kept so secret that they reportedly even shot an alternate
ending where Todd survived.
"We're NCIS agents, McGee.
There is a chance one of us might die every time we walk through that door."
Bellisario isn't the only one to ever lend credence to the idea that working on NCIS
could be taxing to the point of exhaustion for some of his stars.
Mark Harmon, who has portrayed Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the series for 17 grueling
years, has spoken in the past not only about how difficult a gig "NCIS" can be, but about
how it used to be even more so early in the series' run.
During the series' 16th season, Harmon had a chat with Entertainment Tonight in which
he acknowledged that the job isn't exactly a walk in the park, saying,
"This is hard to do.
And we miss that sometimes, because this is a happy group and we all work hard.
But this looks so much easier than it is.
And that's because you've got such talented people in so many different directions here,
who all get in the same path of what they're trying to do."
In a 2017 interview with "The Talk," Harmon described the early days of the series in
terms that suggest a schedule that was nothing short of brutal, saying,
"The first day was 21 hours.
We've, I think, maneuvered the [schedule] over the years to make it much more specific,
and I think we've gotten better with that."
It's interesting to consider that the character of Kate Todd might have been a longer-lived
one, had producers gone with their initial choice for the role.
In a conversation with CBS News, Harmon revealed that Lauren Holly, who portrayed Director
Jenny Shepard on NCIS from seasons 3 to 5, almost landed the part before it was handed
to Alexander.
"At the time that Sasha was hired, Lauren was in that mix to play that role.
And the fact that her name came back up again for the role of Jenny Shepard did not surprise
me a lot... because of what [Holly] has as an actress."
Holly must have boundless energy, because when asked why she chose to depart the series
after only three seasons, she gave a much different reason: she wanted to take on different
roles, and was unhappy at Bellisario's departure from the show.
On her personal website, Holly wrote,
"I was saddened that Don Bellisario was forced out, and I missed him a lot.
To be honest, now that the work bug had bitten me again, I got bored with my part of the
'Director.'
Then the decision was made to kill me, and boy did they.
About five different ways!"
Fortunately, it seems that Alexander is more than happy with her decision to leave.
In a 2012 interview with "TV Guide," she reiterated that she only left because she personally
couldn't handle the long hours.
"People don't realize that on a network show, you make 24 episodes a year — that's ten-and-a-half
months a year, 17 hours a day.
It's hard core."
Alexander wasn't just thinking about the show's impact on her work/life balance at the time.
She added,
"I really firmly believe in my heart that I would not be where I am today.
I didn't want to wake up and be in my forties and go, 'Oh, my gosh!'
But people don't understand."
Taking the risk and leaving NCIS did seem to pay off personally and professionally.
Two years after her dramatic exit, Alexander married Italian director Edoardo Ponti.
The couple now have two children, and she also gained a famous mother-in-law: none other
than iconic actress Sophia Loren.
Career-wise, Alexander went on to play half of crime-solving double act "Rizzoli & Isles"
for seven seasons, and appeared in the Showtime comedy series "Shameless."
Todd may have taken one for the NCIS team — but Alexander is happy that she's no longer
sacrificing her real life for the screen.
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