Michael Weatherly Felt Mark Harmon Had the Least Amount of Fun on ‘NCIS’
Mark Harmon has often spoken about his pleasant experience working alongside the NCIS cast. But his co-star Michael Weatherly always felt he didn’t have as much fun as the rest of his teammates. It wasn’t until Weatherly left the series that he understood why.
Michael Weatherly felt what it was like being in Mark Harmon’s shoes after leaving ‘NCIS’
Weatherly has been very open about his growing and changing relationship with Harmon. Although the two have grown close over the years, Weatherly felt the two were polar opposites when they met. It took a while for the two NCIS stars to get on common ground.
“I was Antarctica, he was the North Pole and we was just looking down there going ‘what is up with your polarity? What’s going on? The water goes down the drain the other way for me,’” Weatherly recalled to The Futon Critic. “And he was confused by my presence right from the get-go. When CNN Showbiz Today or one of those things asked what was the best part about doing the pilot when were doing the upfronts, I said, ‘I got a rubber gun and I got a fake badge.’ And Harmon looked at me like, ‘that is your CNN answer?’ And I was like a little kid who had one too many bowls of Count Chocula. And that could be.. Tony’s a real sugar cereal kid, borderline diabetic.”
The pair not only got along, but their chemistry turned out to be a highlight of the show. But after 13 seasons with NCIS, Weatherly would leave the series in 2015. The actor would end up starring in another television series titled Bull. Unlike with NCIS, Weatherly would be the lead of the series. His newfound position gave the actor some perspective on Harmon’s own experience as a lead.
“It’s been very illuminating and given me a great deal of insight and regard for what Mark Harmon was doing all those years on NCIS, when I was like, ‘How come he doesn’t have as much fun as the rest of us?’” Weatherly once told USA Today.
Michael Weatherly wasn’t expected to return to ‘NCIS’
After Weatherly’s departure from NCIS, some fans hoped to see the actor return to the long-running procedural. He initially left the series to explore other opportunities in the industry, which eventually drew him to Bull. He also never expected to do a television series for as long as he did NCIS.
“The idea of playing a character this long had never occurred to me,” he once told Parade. “But I will say on the good side of the pros and cons column, I always have to have pros, which is Tony DiNozzo got to chase bad guys, run and jump and swim and fire his gun and do all kinds of crazy action stuff over the years, including giving Mark Harmon mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
Speaking to TV Line, however, showrunner at the time Steven Binder told the publication Weatherly seemed unlikely to return.
“When [Michael] left NCIS, he said to me, ‘I am never going to do network television again,’” Binder said. “He had just had some kids, and the hours are so long… but then this Bull thing landed in his lap, and again he was working like a fiend. So I suspect — forgetting Tony DiNozzo for a minute — that Michael Weatherly is on vacation. I’ve known him for a while and I think he needs to chillax and go someplace tropical. I haven’t spoken to him about that but we’ve talked over the years, and that’s my guess.”
Michael Weatherly would’ve been interested in returning to ‘NCIS’ as a guest star
Weatherly might not have been sure about returning to NCIS. But he didn’t rule out making a small guest appearance somewhere down the line.
“I believe in the franchise of NCIS very much,” Weatherly said. “It’s why I went and did NCIS: Los Angeles last year and NCIS: New Orleans. In fact last year I did 26 episodes of the NCIS franchise, which is insane…I would absolutely be open to anything and everything — including things that no one’s even thought of yet, so I would say the long answer is yes.”
