“I Think You Lose Track of Who You Are.” Even After 20 Seasons, NCIS Actor Doesn't Want to Be TV Series Star Like Michael Weatherly
There is an actor in the NCIS cast who has been playing in the TV series since the beginning, and despite having appeared in almost all seasons, he still prefers to stay in the background, where he feels comfortable.
NCIS has been on the air for 21 years over which 22 seasons have been produced. And while the TV series has many stars, not every one can boast such an accomplishment as Joe Spano, who has appeared in almost all the seasons, so far with the exception of two – the 17th and 22nd, which is still airing and in which Spano may yet appear. Nevertheless, the actor has never joined the main cast, remaining a supporting character who occasionally makes guest appearances on the TV show.
And as it turns out, Spano isn't at all interested in changing that, even though he's been involved with the TV series for more than two decades. The actor, who was a guest on the podcast NCIS: Off Duty, hosted by NCIS stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, cites as his reason that leading roles is too much responsibility and a burden he doesn't want to shoulder. That's why he stated that he wouldn't want to do what Weatherly and de Pablo, who at one time were the faces of NCIS, had to do.
I didn't want to have to do what you guys were doing. Not so much the time, but what it does to you… I could see it. It's unspeakable, actually, 'cause you're turned into something, and you have to be that to a certain extent. Promoting the show, reacting to people who see you in a certain way. That's not really who you are, but you want to cater to it for your job and for them, but doing that over and over again, I think you lose track of who you are. Not that anybody knows who they are at all, but sometimes you have some leeway, right just to finding something new for yourself. But in that, it's always being pushed on, and pushing back or not pushing back, and being crushed by it.
Spano has experience as a main cast member – in Hill Street Blues he played Henry Goldblume. Perhaps his experience there convinced him not to take a similar path in NCIS, or it was his observation of his colleagues on the NCIS set that convinced him to stay in the background, where the actor has been fulfilled for so many years.
And now it remains to be seen whether he will also repeat his performance in the 22nd season of NCIS, once again playing T.C. Fornell, whom he has played in 60 episodes so far.
