Michael Weatherly Once Shared That Doing ‘NCIS’ Was Like Being in The Beatles in This Country
NCIS became a massive popular show after its first couple of seasons on air. Soon, it was able to reach a broader international audience. Some countries might’ve even treated the NCIS stars better than the States did.
Michael Weatherly once shared how ‘NCIS’ was viewed in other countries
Weatherly and his cast had no idea how successful NCIS would become. Before he snagged his role as Tony DiNozzo, the actor admittedly had more misses than hits. Perhaps his most successful show before NCIS was the James Cameron series Dark Angel, and even that only lasted for two seasons. Weatherly had gotten so used to the career disappointments by then, that he felt his new role as Tony DiNozzo would follow the same pattern.
“I thought, ‘You know what? None of these things go, so it’s fun. I’m resigned to the idea …’ It’s kind of like dating. You just have to say, ‘Okay. I’m a guy who has relationships that three weeks to two years. And then they go away.’ And that was sort of like the acting job, was like short-term. And now I feel like I’m in a marriage,” Weatherly once told Assignment X.
It’s a marriage that’s paid off, as Tony DiNozzo has become Weatherly’s most popular role by far. So much so he sends fans in a frenzy internationally. Weatherly felt audience’s reaction to him worldwide was a testament to the show’s reach.
“When I went to Australia two years ago, it was like an episode of The Monkees,” Weatherly once told TV Guide. “You had people screaming out of buses. And the demographic there is 18 to 25–it’s a “young” show. In France, it’s like being in the Beatles. You go down the street, and they think it’s the most exciting thing in the world. It’s nutty! And now in the U.S., partly because of the constant reruns on the USA Network, it’s getting more of that kind of traction. But by no means, like you’re saying, does it have that kind of massive-show feeling. And yet with the numbers and everything else, it is a massive show. The popularity of NCIS is a little bit like when you meet a very, very wealthy person, but he drives a Subaru and insists on parking around the corner instead of using the valet.”
Michael Weatherly sensed ‘NCIS’ would be special after Mark Harmon gave a speech
Given his track record of canceled shows, Weatherly had little reason to believe that NCIS might be an exception. But his co-star Harmon helped reassure him that NCIS might actually have a future that went beyond two seasons. Weatherly pinpointed a meeting that he and his NCIS co-workers had that marked this turning point.
“I think that no one could have known – obviously, because no one has that crystal ball – when we walked onto the stage of Carnegie Hall in 2003 to introduce the show to the advertisers at the upfronts,” Weatherly revealed. “Mark Harmon, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum and myself, there was this moment as we walked out where, I don’t know who took who’s hands first, but the four of us held hands, sort of organically. You can’t design that stuff. And we all got to the lip of the stage and looked at each other and had this moment of connectivity.”
Weatherly felt Harmon cemented himself that day as the leader who truly united the cast.
“The glue of the show happened with Mark Harmon from that moment stepping forward and saying his words about, we are going to give you a show that’s the best show we can deliver, and that’s our promise to you,” he said. “And I think the four of us felt there was something different and really special about Mark’s attitude, and it imbued us together with a sense of, we were bound together in that moment.”
