‘NCIS’: This Actress Almost Played Sasha Alexander’s Kate Todd
Sasha Alexander is best known for playing Agent Caitlin “Kate” Todd on NCIS. Although fans loved her in this role and were sad to see her go, she almost didn’t play this character. There was another well-known actress who could have had her spot next to actors Michael Weatherly and Mark Harmon. Here’s everything Showbiz Cheat Sheet knows about the actress who almost played Kate Todd on NCIS.
Sasha Alexander’s ‘NCIS’ role
Sasha Alexander played agent Caitlin “Kate” Todd on NCIS from 2003 to 2005. Her character was killed during season 2, episode 23. During the final scene, Kate is shot in the head. Co-star Michael Weatherly told CBS a funny story about how he flinched on screen right before Alexander’s character is shot. Weatherly said he was trying to prepare for being hit with fake blood splatter.
NCIS creator Don Bellisario told the Chicago Tribune he wanted to take a different direction after Kate was written out of the show. He said the character was “too uptight,” so he was looking for someone who was a bit more lighthearted. “Kate was kind of uptight, and I want to bring in somebody who doesn’t live by the three-button rule for women in business,” Bellisario told the publication.
The actress who almost played Kate Todd
The actress who almost played Kate Todd is none other than Lauren Holly. She was originally considered for the role when Alexander was in the running. Holly eventually went on to play Director Jenny Shepard. During an interview with CBS, Harmon says he wasn’t surprised when he heard Holly was being considered for the role of Shepard because her name had come up before:
I had heard Lauren’s name originally brought up here when they were originally trying to replace the very first girl that was part of NCIS in the very beginning. 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. But I knew that she would bring something very different to the role not only because she’s female, but because of what she has as an actress.
Lauren Holly says she’s lucky to have had such a great experience on ‘NCIS’
Back in 2006, Holly told CBS she had a great experience on the set of NCIS. One thing that helped was that the people on the cast had similar personalities. She says this helped everyone gel and work together well. “I’ve been pretty fortunate in the work experiences that I’ve had on hour dramas, but the interesting thing about this show is we’re all somewhat of a misfit as a personality,” Holly said. “We always joke about this, and somehow, we’ve all ended up here together, and there just couldn’t be a better gel of all our little misfit personalities fitting. It’s been fantastic.”
Read more: ‘NCIS’: Why Did Lauren Holly Leave the Show?
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