Gary Cole from ‘NCIS’ attends the CBS New Fall Schedule Celebration. Francis Specker/CBS
Regardless of becoming a member of NCIS as FBI Particular Agent Alden Parker almost three years in the past, Gary Cole admitted he’s nonetheless getting his bearings.
Cole, 67, took over the lead position on the long-running drama from Mark Harmon throughout season 19 in September 2021, however the veteran actor acknowledged he’s having bother with course — actually.
“I’m always misplaced nonetheless,” Cole solely advised Us Weekly on the CBS Fall Schedule Celebration Thursday, Might 2, on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles.
Cole joked, “There’s folks which have been there 20 years that make a flawed flip and we’re searching for them.”
The NCIS household simply retains rising — with six current or former reveals and two extra on the best way as of 2024. Whereas many followers would possibly assume the naval intelligence-based franchise started with NCIS, that’s not the case. The flagship NCIS present was truly JAG, which debuted on NBC in 1995. The sequence adopted army […]
As Cole additional defined, he can typically nonetheless have questions concerning the story traces on the present, which ran for almost 20 years earlier than he got here on board.
Gary Cole as Alden Parker in ‘NCIS.’ Robert Voets/CBS
“I’m all the time asking, ‘What occurred right here?’” Cole stated. “I imply, outdated episodes all the time come up. Not essentially for analysis, however simply to make use of it to see what occurred once we have been out right here. You get a way of what the tales have been and what was up.”
When Cole successfully changed Harmon because the lead on NCIS, he credited the writers with making his job “fairly simple.”
“I assumed the writers actually solved plenty of points,” he stated, “as a result of they didn’t make it right into a state of affairs the place you hear a knock on the door and it was like ‘Hello, I’m the brand new man.’”
Cole and Harmon, 72, appeared in three episodes collectively earlier than Harmon formally left the present throughout the fourth episode of season 19. In complete, Harmon appeared on over 435 episodes of NCIS throughout his 18-year run.
To get him acclimated, Cole additionally credited the present’s ensemble forged with creating an invigorating artistic surroundings.
“I get pleasure from when there’s plenty of us in a scene,” Cole stated. “We’ve develop into fairly good at doing a scene with 5 or 6 folks. Everyone is aware of their choreography. It’s actually like a dance. That’s been enjoyable to develop with this group.”
Wilmer Valderrama as Nicholas “Nick” Torres, Sean Murray as Timothy McGee, Katrina Legislation as Jessica Knight, Gary Cole as Alden Parker, and Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer in ‘NCIS.’ Robert Voets/CBS
The sentiment was echoed by costar Katrina Legislation, who performs Jessica Knight on NCIS. Legislation gushed to Us Weekly, “I believe Gary Cole is without doubt one of the greatest people and greatest actors on this planet.”
As for the present’s upcoming season 21 finale, Cole acknowledged he couldn’t say a lot, however promised “a little bit cliffhanger.”
Cole stated, “Hopefully that’s the place we delivered.”
The season finale of NCIS airs on CBS Monday, Might 6, at 9 p.m. ET.
Reporting by Kevin Zelman