'NCIS's' Mark Harmon talks about playing Jethro Gibbs

Mark Harmon, who stars in the leading television drama in the US, NCIS, talks about playing Jethro Gibbs and his ensemble cast…

Did you know NCIS is extremely popular in India as well. Do you have any experience with that part of the world?
I’ve never been to India; my wife (Pam Dawber) has. But I hope it does well there. It’s great to hear! It’s funny because when the show was launched in the Orient, there was always this expectation of how the audience would like it  or whether they would not like it — And, they like it a lot. So I hope that it’s the same in India.

 You have worked with actors from all over the world on this show — any from India?
Not that I can remember but it’s like what I said about the worldwide appeal of the show; the fact that the agency we portray has worldwide jurisdiction, so some of their work is there and their offices are here but they can go anywhere in the world for their cases. So, if that opens up storylines in India, I’d be happy to go there!

Do you have a single favourite episode or season?
I don’t. I used to talk about episodes that I thought were more favoured than others, and then when I see them in a re-run or something or I catch part of one a second time, I re-judge it. If I was to name five shows that I thought were shows that were favourites of mine, they wouldn’t be favourites of yours, and that’s the thing. 

Is the cast as much a family as the characters have become?
Yes, the thing is, if you look at early shows in the show you can see some points of that. And yet I think the camaraderie is much greater now, as it would be after people spend a number of years together. Also, this core cast has not changed over the number of years, Michael Wetherly has been here six years now and Sean Murray has been there seven years. That this cast is still growing and still working as one is fairly remarkable and I could talk about them all day!

What can you tell us about the current season?
The end of last season is going to be tied up in one episode. They did a great job writing that episode, it was a tough one to write; it’s trying to get back to independent stories, and trying to put something not to bed, because on this show it’s never to bed. But I think there’s a very active effort to move forward and in the first 12 episodes, our audience has those hinge episodes to look forward to which are; the return of Robert Wagner, the return of Ralph Waite, the return of Michael Nouri and some characters that they know of from the past.
 
Tune into NCIS, Monday to Wednesday, 10pm on Big CBS Prime