Other Insider Info: Cast and Characters

What does CJ Cregg's Simon Donovan have to do with Gibbs? Is that Pauley Perrette's real hair? What IS the deal with the redhead who picks up Gibbs?

(All answers from Kip unless otherwise noted.)
 

Mark Harmon/Gibbs (and his redhead)   |   Sasha Alexander/Kate   |   Michael Weatherly/Tony   |   Pauley Perrette/Abby   |   David McCallum/Ducky

(Nothing on McGee.)
 

The cast in general:

Kip: Mark was first choice. Michael Weatherley was a first choice. David 'MacCullum was a first choice. Others were auditioned.

The NCIS team we follow is based at the Washington Naval Yard. They will travel all over their half of the world.

Focus groups [watching the "JAG" spinoff episodes] rated NCIS quite high. Especially women. Mark Harmon was very high rated as was Pauley Perette and David McCallum. Overall it was one of the best testing pilots I've seen. Although not privy to the data, I heard that it tested quite high for CBS which seems to be very interested in the show.

The current cast [going into Season 1] is a great team. The entire cast, including Sasha Alexander, is very excited to start on the new series.

LACoroner:
For what it is worth, I find the cast of NCIS to be delightful. They are centered (not self-centered), enthusiastic about the show and the technical staff that makes the show so good, gregarious and appear to be genuinely happy people.

I have been introduced to more than a few actors over my career (name names here)and while my exposure to them is certainly limited to our brief meeting, they have all been patient, inquisitive and earnest about getting the character details and technical skills to the best of their ability. To a person, not one of them has been the "stereotypic" "star" or spoiled child.

Understand, that on the production food-chain, I am somewhere between the gate security officer and the folks that pick up the garbage each Wednesday morning. That being said, my primary exposure is to the character Ducky (and the actors that play dead and the clever folks that do the special effects make-up and prosthetics), and to a lesser degree, the character Gibbs. My exposure to Dinozzo and Todd while limited, has been very positive. MW seems playful, gentle, focused, easy-going and devoted to his family and friends. MH is a "boy next door" kind of guy...instantly likable, gracious and seems to be quite good at making everyone involved with the production feel like part of a special team. As far as DM, what can I say??? A rabid MFU fan as a kid, to be in this position now sometimes borders on disbelief. He is an incredibly thorough, exacting, inquisitive, thoughtful, talented and consummate professional. From the day we first met before "Ice Queen" was shot when he got a "dog & pony show" at my office to this day, he works very hard to make sure that things are portrayed and spoken accurtely and that it looks natural.

I know this is a tad long-winded, but there seemed to be some interest in the topic...so for what it is worth I offer my two cents. My observations, personal experience and gut reaction to some special people I have met and now enjoy on television.

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Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs

from LACoroner: The bracelet Mark Harmon is wearing is not a Medic Alert bracelet, it is a 6th (?) Marines ID bracelet. While it compliments his character (Gibbs)(I believe either he or his father were in the Marines, it is actually his personal bracelet that belonged to his father, Tom Harmon.

from Kip:

There were a number of leads suggested. DPB then saw Mark Harmon's work on Westwing and felt he would be perfect for the NCIS lead characer, Mark read the script and liked it. They met and the biz people made the deal.

[MH] He is a natural born leader and an all around good guy. Just interested in doing good work. The crew and cast love him.

Mark Harmon plays "Leroy Jethro Gibbs". DPB's brother's name is Leroy. His father's middle name was Jethro. Don't know where the Gibbs came from. Mark Harmon loves the name "Jethro" and although his character name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he used Jethro because he liked it so much.

On the Gibbs haircut Kate always finds amusing:
It is the actors choice for the character who is a former Marine Gunney. In one episode another gunny remarked on how long his hair was. ["My Other Left Foot"] He cut it even shorter. Then to go under cover as a recruiting Gunny [the next episode, "One Shot, One Kill"], the actor cut it even shorter.

All in keeping with Mark Harmon's determination to play the character including hair. Mark even says, it's certainly not his choice, but it is the characters. (Mr. Harmon said in the article "Sexy Harmon still cuts it" by Sue Yeap that he gets his hair cut every Monday to keep with the character's look.)

As for Gibbs being perfect...he is far from it which has already been shown a number of ways including last nights episode when he kicked the reporter off the beach and then chastised her for not digging deep enough. She called him on that. ["Seadog"]

Gibbs also likes to go it alone. Dangerous thing to do in these times. Kate discovered counterfeit money was from a batch used by 9-11 hijackers. Gibbs Didn't want to involve any other agencies...Kate's tried to get info from a secret service friend but that brought in the FBI which led to discovery that the people who did all the killing weren't drug smugglers, but terrorists. ["Seadog"]

There appears to be some discrepancy over the real NCIS agent Gibbs is based on. From Larry Bonko's article "Shows Are Putting Norfolk on the TV Map" from Season 2:

Bellisario forged the Norfolk connection with “NCIS” when the pilot was being filmed early in 2003. Leon Carroll Jr. served as technical adviser – a position he still holds. Carroll was assigned to the Norfolk NCIS office in the 1990s before moving to Los Angeles.

Heading up the Norfolk office today is Rick Warmack, who was Carroll’s colleague in Los Angeles when “NCIS” was getting off the ground. Like Carroll, he helped Bellisario with technical matters.

“We had input. They listened. Don’s people have the utmost respect for NCIS,” said Warmack, who’s run the Norfolk office since last March. NCIS has agents in approximately 140 locations on land and sea worldwide to root out crime, keep Navy secrets secret and counter terrorism.

Mark Harmon says he based his character – Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs – on Warmack. Harmon dresses like him: Ball cap. Jackets with NCIS FEDERAL AGENT printed on them.

“I spent a lot of time with Rick when we were first shooting the series. There is a lot of him in my character – a lot of stuff. In a lot of ways, I try to be him. We’re still connected. He’s invited me to visit him in Norfolk. I’d love to do that,” said Harmon when the “NCIS” gang recently schmoozed with TV writers in Los Angeles.

Mark Harmon based aspects of Leroy Jethro Gibbs on David Lytle, a real-life NCIS agent. ... Lytle was a former partner of on-set tech adviser Leon Carroll Jr.

On Gibbs' boat

Glen-L Marine Designs supplied the frame kit for Gibbs' boat - an Amigo, the same model frame kit used on "Roseanne" at the beginning of the sitcom series. It's in Glen-L Marine Designs' "Boat builder newsletter #49". See pictures of the designers building the frame kit here.

The mysterious, nameless redhead who picks up or drops off Gibbs in her cool car:

Mr. Bellisario created the show "Magnum, P.I.", in which Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) works for a mysterious rich novelist that is never seen - Robin Masters. FYI, Kip tells us that (1) Higgins was NOT Masters, and (2) Orson Welles supplied the voice for Masters. Kip: You never knew in 8 years who Robin Masters was.

DPB is doing a variation of that in NCIS. Viewers are already asking "Who is the woman in the expensive car picking up Gibbs?" That was the correlation I was drawing when I asked if you all remembered Robin Masters.

[DPB] was directing the pilot ["Yankee White"] and added that as a sudden idea. Heat was developing between the characters of Gibbs and Kate as they filmed. DPB liked the heat, but didn't want it to become a UST kind of thing. Hence the sexy redhead.

That little moment also had the effect of throwing a bucket of cold water on viewers who picked up the UST between Gibbs and Kate and thought, "Here we go, again." The red head in the Mercedes SL55 will show up every now and then to give Gibbs a lift at the end of an episode.

His idea at present is to never reveal who the redhead is. Let the viewers come up with their own fantasy. She will appear from time to time to pick him up or drop him off. You won't see much of her either...just a glimpse for a second or two.

The game is afoot.

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Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo

Tony tells us exactly how to spell his last name [3.10, "Probie"]: "Big 'D' little 'i' big 'N' little 'ozzo'."

As an aside on Michael Weatherley. He is a very good actor which is why DPB hired him after they met in Australia where MW was playing Robert Wagner in the Natalie Wood story. Michael came from months of playing RJ and had to instantly become Tony. It took him a while to adjust. The changes are obvious to me because I know the order the scenes were filmed in.

Personally I thought MW's performance in the Lindsey interrogation scene was excellent and that the last scene he filmed in the two hours.
 

Tony is Tony. Loves to pulls Kate's chain. Loves women. So shoot him.

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Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto

Abby is a technician and as such does not fall into the special agent category.

Asked if Abby's black hair is Ms. Perrette's real hair: It's her hair.
(In an interview, "Pauley Perrette Ponders Life's Puzzles", however, Perrette says she is a blonde: "Pulling out some old photos, Perrette, 36, said, "I actually have curly hair. Someone else made it look like this. And I'm blond. I don't think I'm ever going to get this out of my hair. I could grow my blond roots out to here and be half-blond, but I would look like a skunk.")

[Ms. Perrette] had a lot to do with [Abby's] wardrobe. Pauley is not only a terrific actress, but she has great taste for her character...I think because she is very much like Abby. As a young girl she used to explore junk yards full of car wrecks, not for the gore but to figure out what happened. She also has a degree in Criminalogy or forensics, I'm not sure which.

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David McCallum as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard

DPB's mother-in-law had a friend named Duck...nickname was Ducky. He used to kid her, saying if she ever married this friend she'd become Dulcie Duck. DPB used DUcky but made the ME's name Mallard as the reason for the nickname.

from LACoroner
[David McCallum] has really "boned up" on the subject matter."

I think that perhaps you may be selling the character of Ducky Mallard short. I should admit up front that I also have a bias towards the profession. I believe that the character represents (and continues to develop and evolve)the "real-life" medical examiners that I have been associated with. There are those that come to work and go home, and the whole focus is finding what is there or not there, preparing a report and moving on to the next examination. The Ducky Mallard character is a student of life and had to be so out of necessity to compliment his life experience. While the other NCIS characters feign disdain at his stories, the information he is sharing is part and parcel of a fundamental truth of forensics in that "things may not always be as they appear" and that "tunnel vision" of an investigator can result in serious mistakes being made. Death investigators (Medical Examiners, Coroner Investigators, Toxicologists) may see more deaths in a year than most homicide detectives will see in a career and because of that fact, are in a better position to provide "back story" about a particular finding or an opinion that may be bubbling below the surface. Point being, when we don't know everything, we should not discount the life experience of another and in turn, the next time we encounter a similar situation, we understand that there may be other factors to consider that we would otherwise be unaware of were it not for the sharing of ones' life experience. While the character of Gibbs seems to dismiss the stories out of hand, I notice that the characters Dinozzo and Todd display a greater tolerance to the stories and to me, that implies that they may recognize the future value of spending a few minutes of their time with a person that has seen/studied a topic that few specialize in...death.

Ducky's assistants: Gerald and Jimmy

The two characters (Jimmy and Gerald) would most like be "autopsy assistants" or "deiners". These folks can be found in many hospital autopsy rooms and are there to assist the pathologist with duties associated with the autopsy process...photography, specimen tracking, post-mortem care and storage of remains, release of remains in some cases. They may also be medical students working the assistant job as they attend medical school. They might also be trained as an embalmer.

Most of the training, if not all, is on-the-job training...there is no autopsy assistant academy to attend.

In our office, Jimmy's and Gerald's assist with the autopsy, collect specimens as directed, open the head and remove the brain and remove neck organs if required, photography, x-ray, specimen control, post-mortem care and storage of remains."

Many Medical Examiners work with the same autopsy technician day in and day out. Since the show depicts a one-doctor operation, it makes sense to me that Ducky has a "favorite" primary technician. The autopsy technician functions somewhat as an extension of the ME in that they know the ME they work for, they know what the ME expects, wants, needs and they take care of their ME, the autopsy room, the collected specimens, etc.

Pancho Demmings plays Ducky's autopsy technician and I am glad that they decided to use one person for the role instead of switching actors week in and week out.

In a place where there are many ME's and many autopsy technicians available, I would bet that there are favorites on both sides of the fence, even though they may not get to always work with their preference.
 

While I can't speak for every entity, the Forensic Technicians that work for L.A. County have a variety of skills and backgrounds, but most are taught On-The-Job after they are hired. Some have previous experience as a hospital autopsy room technician while others have a background in the funeral industry. I have two that were a physician & dentist in other countries before coming to the US and chose not to become licensed in the U.S. Since our Forensic Technician series is the career path from Forensic Attendant, some of our folks began their career in the transportation/crypt management function of our office. Most will volunteer "in the back" while working in transport to gain some skills and knowledge and see if they really like that sort of work. We have about 24 Forensic Technicians (20 techs, 3 supervisors and one head technician)that support the Medical staff 7 days a week. The technicians are responsible to pull and prepare bodies for examination, prep the station, assist the doctor with evisceration, opening the head, removal of neck organs, specimen collection/preservation, photography, x-ray, restoration of the remains, cleaning, re-wrapping and placement back into the crypt for storage. We have some pretty talented restorative staff to hand severe cases when practical and for the occasional "oops!". While several are licensed embalmers, we have a private contractor do all of the embalming and packing that is required for the office.

Both Pancho Demmings (Gerald Jackson) and Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer) have been guests at our facility to observe first-hand the duties and relationships to "flesh-out" their characters.

I did however strongly recommend that Ducky be assigned a regular/steady assistant as my experience has been that Medical Examiners often have, prefer and work better with a day to day assistant that knows their likes and dislikes, how they want their autopsy table set-up, what specimen containers they should have ready, keep careful logs of specimen accountability, keeping the autopsy area ready to go at all times, etc. Almost like a "Radar" character on M*A*S*H.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Jimmy Palmer. The new character that will be Ducky's autopsy assistant. Played by Brian Dietzen, he too got a "dog & pony show" tour of the office to give him a little more material to weave into his character. A nice guy...kinda gives you an Opie-ish vibe. An earnest young man, eager to learn and help Dr. Mallard. His character will hopefully get more time to develop further this season. They will make a great team in the autopsy suite and in the field.
 

It is possible that [an assistant] would be "just passing through" [on to a higher career position], but it is equally possible that they would be in a "career" situation with no plans.

In my experience, Medical Examiner's like working with assistants they are familiar with versus a revolving door. Gerald's and Jimmy's learn the idiosyncrasies of Ducky and anticipate his needs. When Ducky shows up at the autopsy table, everything he will need is there. Ducky knows the specimens collected at autopsy will be properly labeled and delivered to the lab so the chain of custody remains intact. When Ducky is done, he knows that his assistant will restore the body, close the body, wash the body and place it back into refrigeration pending release to a mortuary.

I would guess that the assistant position is a civilian job with the NCIS "Medical Examiner unit".