With employers unclear if David McCallum was the perfect fit for Ducky, NCIS could have turned out quite differently.
Ducky was a famous member of the NCIS team for 20 years, despite not always being believed to be the proper actor for the job.
Fans of the CBS drama were devastated when it was revealed last month that the veteran actor d1ed six days after his 90th birthday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
He was the agents’ principal medical examiner until season 15, when he announced his retirement but eventually changed his mind.
Ducky was then hired as their part-time historian, and while he was no longer a series regular, viewers looked forward to seeing him.
However, as several of the show’s creators disclosed, the Scottish actor was not always promised to play Ducky.
To commemorate NCIS’s 20th anniversary, The Hollywood Reporter met down with the show’s creators earlier this year.
During a casting debate, it was revealed that McCallum was not the favorite in everyone’s opinion to play Ducky.
Former CBS Casting Director Peter Golden remarked first: “Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Michael Weatherly, they all came in and read, and when they read, it was undeniable.”
And I don’t want to downplay Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance, who joined in season five).
When they chose David McCallum as Ducky, the studio responded, ‘No way, we’re not casting this old character actor in the part,’ recalls director James Whitmore Jr.
And Don [Bellisario] replied, ‘We’re not doing the show if you don’t.’ He took it quite seriously.
The studio went with it, and David McCallum, of course, is gold.
Golden stated that it was because McCallum was British that he felt this way, adding, “The feeling was, “Can you do that?” This was a really American spectacle.”
Following his d3ath, several NCIS stars paid tribute on social media.
“David, what an immense honor it was to share the screen with you,” Nick Torres actor Wimer Valderrama wrote.Your expertise and ability to effortlessly take each of us on a journey through your art will be felt for the rest of our lives. My friend, I will miss you.”
“David McCallum made every moment count, in life and on set,” Tony Dinozzo star Michael Weatherly said.
Let’s raise a glass to a humorous, great, honest man.
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