“That seemed to have run its course.” Michael Weatherly almost left network TV because of NCIS
Michael Weatherly was fed up with the small screen after NCIS and almost gave up on network TV. He changed his mind for another TV series.
Michael Weatherly to NCIS fans is known as Anthony DiNozzo. The actor played this character for many years, which means that he was associated with network TV for a long time. Being tied to work on the set of such a production proved to be quite a burden for the actor over time, who eventually got fed up with it and came close to having to completely give up appearing in productions for network TV because of NCIS.
Fans eventually had to say goodbye to an iconic character, and Weatherly was close to saying goodbye to the small screen as well. When he left NCIS, he felt like he didn't want to take on a similar project again, because TV series are too demanding. Especially in the long run.
The actor confessed to TV Guide that when he left NCIS he thought about finding new challenges that he was no longer able to take on in that crime TV series. Nor did he think he could find them in another TV show.
I was so comfortable with Tony DiNozzo on NCIS that… it was interesting when that seemed to have run its course. I thought maybe it’s because I’m getting older and I just want to have a different experience. And NCIS wasn’t the place for that.
I was really just looking for a change, and I didn’t know exactly what that would be. In all honesty, I didn’t think it was going to be another full-order network hour drama. Simply because that schedule is punishing, and I’ve been doing it for the last 16 years. […] I wasn’t really looking for a rest as much as something different.
However, the actor changed his mind when the Bull TV series came his way. The TV show was so different from what he experienced in NCIS that he decided to give the small screen another chance, despite the challenges of a demanding schedule. Weatherly was hesitant about whether he should commit to the TV series once again, but the Bull script, he claimed, gave him a chance to prove himself as an actor.