‘NCIS’: 10 Guest Stars You May Have Forgotten Were On the Show
NCIS has been a staple of the CBS lineup since 2003. Over the years, fans of the procedural drama have seen beloved characters come and go, including Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo, Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David, and Pauley Perrette’s Abby Sciuto. The show has also welcomed dozens of guest stars over the course of its 21 seasons, including these 10 notable appearances. How many of them do you remember?
Jamie Lee Curtis
Scream queen and Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis had a multi-episode arc on NCIS Season 9. She portrayed Dr. Samantha Ryan, the head of the Department of Defense’s PsyOps division, who also had a short-lived relationship with Gibbs.
Sean Astin
During one of her NCIS appearances, Curtis shared the screen with Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin. In the 2012 episode “The Tell,” the Samwise Gamgee actor played a man named Tyler Elliott, who was one of Ryan’s operatives.
“NCIS is legendary for having a very close-knit, family-style, hard-working, professional team,” Astin told Entertainment Weekly. “So being able to step in and participate with them — it makes you feel a little less like a free agent for a minute. It makes you feel like you’re a part of something.”
Michelle Obama
Then-First Lady Michelle Obama made a brief appearance as herself on a season 13 episode of NCIS, where she greeted Gibbs when he visited the White House for a discussion about military spouses.
The episode was inspired by “a real-life program that helped military families find doctors and housing,” executive producer Mark Horowitz told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a very positive thing, and it really came out great, and she was fantastic.”
Glen Powell
Before he was chasing tornadoes in Twisters or romancing Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, Glen Powell appeared in the two-part NCIS episode “Shell Shock” in 2012. He played Evan Westcott, a Marine whose brother is being investigated by NCIS.
Millie Bobby Brown
In 2016, Millie Bobby Brown shot to fame thanks to her role as psychokinetic preteen Eleven in Stranger Things. Two years earlier, she appeared on NCIS. In an episode titled “Parental Guidance Suggested,” she portrayed a girl named Rachel who murdered her mother.
Billy Dee Williams
The Empire Strikes Back star Billy Dee Williams had a brief but important role on NCIS. The actor first appeared on the CBS show in the 2012 episode “The Namesake” as Leroy Jethro Moore, a Medal of Honor winner and close friend of Gibb’s father, who named his son after him. He played the character again in a 2014 episode titled “Honor Thy Father.”
“We had all this history built into this story, so you really needed somebody who needed to have a certain amount of gravitas,” Horowitz told CBS of the decision to cast Williams. “Billy brought a tremendous amount of charm and grace to that part.”
Mike Wolfe
American Pickers star Mike Wolfe appeared as himself in a 2018 episode of NCIS. In “One Man’s Trash,” Gibbs is watching the History Channel reality show when he spots an unusual club he suspects could have been the weapon used in an unsolved murder case. Gibbs heads off to meet Wolfe and convince him to give up the item.
“Thanks for having me NCIS! If you see any other picks on American Pickers on History that you need to borrow, let me know,” Wolfe wrote on Facebook after the episode aired. “Happy to help again. Hope y’all enjoyed the episode!”
Jon Cryer
Pretty in Pink and Two and Half Men star Jon Cryer popped up in the season 13 premiere of NCIS. He played a surgeon who saved Gibbs’ life after he was shot in the season 12 finale. The character, Dr. Cyril Taft, appeared in three episodes in total.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cryer said he’d long dreamt of appearing on the CBS show, though he envisioned his role a little differently.
“I always wanted to be one of the characters who die entertainingly in the first two minutes of the show,” he said. “That would’ve been great!”
Colin Hanks
Tom Hanks’ son Colin Hanks appeared in three episodes of NCIS Seasons 10 and 11. He played Richard Parsons, a Department of Defense investigator looking into how the NCIS team handled the death of the Deputy Director of Mossad.
Zac Efron
Before he became a High School Musical heartthrob, Zac Efron made a brief appearance in NCIS. In the 2006 episode “Deception,” he plays a teenager questioned by NCIS agents after he and his friend are found with a phone previously used by a kidnapping victim.
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