The death of David McCallum in September 2023 dealt a severe blow to “NCIS,” one of the longest-running TV shows in the modern era. He portrayed Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard for 20 seasons. Even though he had a lengthy career, it’s reasonable to assume that the majority of his followers recognized him from this role. For this reason, it’s interesting to wonder what may have happened if someone else had been cast in the position.
On the same day of McCallum’s death, The Hollywood Reporter published an oral history of “NCIS,” where producers and other people who work behind the scenes discussed the ins and outs of making the show. This includes a rundown of the A-listers considered for the role of Gibbs (Mark Harmon), such as Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Patrick Swayze, and Scott Glenn. Not only did the team think Glenn would make a good Gibbs, but he was also in contention for the part of Ducky. As casting director Susan Bluestein explained, “Scott Glenn was also being considered for the role of Ducky. There was a lot of discussion about Scott Glenn, and ultimately, Scott Glenn passed. And other people passed for Gibbs.
Scott Glenn also has an impressive resume, from Jack Crawford in “Silence of the Lambs” to Stick in Netflix’s “Daredevil.” It’s safe to say he would’ve brought a decidedly different energy to Ducky than McCallum did, but everything worked out for the best in the end.
The cast of NCIS could’ve looked very different
Observing characters—and the actors who portray them—through hundreds of episodes spread over several years is a significant component of the allure of a television program like “NCIS.” When you know that the same folks will be on TV every week, they start to feel like a consoling force. We had that with David McCallum and Mark Harmon, but it’s intriguing to consider how the dynamics on the program may have been different if the cast had chosen a different cast.
For casting Gibbs, the team considered some major Hollywood players, but even they admit those were pipe dreams. When discussing all of the A-listers considered for Gibbs, Susan Bluestein clarified, “We did not make offers to those people. We just investigated.” While the likes of Harrison Ford and Clive Owen might do TV series these days, the entertainment landscape was very different back in the early 2000s. Television hadn’t quite entered its Golden Era yet, so there was a next-to-zero possibility of Ford signing on for a police procedural.
But Bluestein vouched for Harmon, having cast him in a TV movie previously, and that’s ultimately what stuck.Another pie-in-the-sky casting was Jennifer Aniston as Kate Todd, as the actor’s career was hot toward the end of her run on “Friends.” “NCIS” could’ve been a positively star-studded affair, but instead, it brought in actors who could really commit to these actors and helped turn “NCIS” into the juggernaut it remains today