“You Don’t Want to Force Someone to Work.” NCIS Showrunner Has Helped a Fan Favorite Leave the TV Show, Because the Grueling Work Schedule Was Too Much for Her
NCIS' grueling schedule made the actress want to leave the TV series. Despite her existing contract, the showrunner helped the star say goodbye to the TV show.
Working on television series is not easy, as it requires a considerable amount of time on the part of those involved. While it sometimes takes only a few weeks to make a film, actors have to spend several, even ten months at a time on the sets of TV series. Shows created according to the old formula, where seasons could have up to 24 episodes each, as was the case with NCIS, among others, had to take a particularly long time.
And it turned out to be too much for the star of that production, who played audience favorite Agent Kate Todd. The grueling schedule after time was too much for Sasha Alexander, so the actress, although still obligated by her contract, asked to be removed from NCIS. Donald Bellisario, showrunner of NCIS, told the story during an interview with the Chicago Tribune.
I had already started writing the last episode of the season and was getting ready to go to Australia to take a little break,” he says. “Sasha came in two days before I was to leave, and with tears in her eyes, she said, “I just can’t work this hard.”
NCIS is a hard show to make. We work very long hours, and Sasha just didn’t feel she was physically up to that kind of time and commitment. Although we had her under contract, I went to CBS and said, “You don’t want to force someone to work when she says this is not what she expected it to be.” I think it was just more than she realized.
The producers did not keep Alexander against her will and let the actress go. In turn, her character was killed off in NCIS, which shocked viewers who loved watching Agent Todd. Unfortunately, her story had to come to an end, and it was decided for a definitive end, without leaving the door open.
Speaking to TV Guide, Alexander confessed that leaving NCIS was not an easy decision for her. Although the schedule was grueling, she didn't want to let her fans down. However, she had to choose on her own comfort.
People don’t realize that on a network show, you make 24 episodes a year — that’s 10 and a half months a year, 17 hours a day. It’s hard core. Plus, people really loved the character, and the way they did it was really shocking…it was a bullet to the head, you know?
After her adventure with NCIS ended, Sasha Alexander developed her career in productions that were more to her liking.
