Mark Harmon was a very crucial part of NCIS. Being at the very center of the series for nineteen years, fans watched Leroy Jethro Gibbs go through many stages of his life. Although the hole that he left in the series was filled by Gary Cole’s Alden Parker, fans have certainly felt his absence in the series.
However, many would be surprised to know that Harmon almost left the beloved series very early into its run. The reason for the same is also very surprising, with it being the creator of the show was causing problems for the actor.
Mark Harmon and Trouble in NCIS
From 2003 to 2007, Donald P. Bellisario headed the production and creation of NCIS as its showrunner. He and Don McGill helped the series launch hand in hand. However, the latter allegedly ended up leaving the series because of Bellisario. There have been many rumors about how the producer likes to work, and none of them seem to be positive.
There have been whispers of him being too much of a perfectionist, leading to some serious conflict between him and the rest of the cast and crew of the series. Claims that he would rip up scripts on the day of a shoot and ask the writers to create something new at the last minute. This allegedly made it difficult for the actors to memorize their lines, causing them to dislike him as well.
It would seem, however, that Bellisario specifically butted heads with Mark Harmon, as revealed by a source close to the situation during an interview with TVGuide. Claiming that the producer had a very poor way of managing a set, he would constantly force the entire cast to work till they physically could not anymore.
Mark’s been working every single day, 16 hours a day.
Specifically talking about Harmon, the source claimed that the producer would force the actors to work for 16 hours a day every single day that they were filming. One can imagine that this did not lead to a healthy work environment.
Mark Harmon Almost Left Years Ago
It is safe to assume that a duel between the lead actor of a hit series and the showrunner was not an easy situation for a studio to navigate. However, it would seem that Mark Harmon did not let them choose when it came to how they were going to deal with the situation.
The source claimed that the way that the series and Donald P. Bellisario would treat its actors started to affect their personal lives. They specifically talked about Harmon’s life, explaining that he was finding it difficult to make time for his family when he was working such tireless hours on a show.
[Don] tries to micro-manage everything. Script pages get faxed to the set at the last minute, and Mark is tired of dealing with the huge impact that makes on his life. He doesn’t have time for his family or anything when he’s working hours like that.
Keeping this in mind, they alleged that the actor threatened to leave the series around its fourth season, right when it was hitting its peak. One can imagine that the lead star of a show walking away after four seasons would not have gone well with a studio. Many have speculated that this was the reason why Bellisario ended up leaving the series in 2007.
NCIS is available for streaming on Netflix and Hulu.
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