NCIS: Origins Prequel Series Casts The Blacklist’s Diany Rodriguez as Young [Spoiler]
CBS’ NCIS: Origins prequel spinoff has found the last of its series regulars in The Blacklist alum Diany Rodriguez and The Chi‘s Tyla Abercrumbie.
In January, CBS announced a straight-to-series order for the spinoff, which will be set in the early 1990s and follow a young version of Mark Harmon’s longtime NCIS protagonist, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (to be played by Austin Stowell), as a new agent at the NCIS Camp Pendleton office. The show will chronicle Gibbs’ early career as he forges his own path on a team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (SIX‘s Kyle Schmid).
Other previous castings include Mariel Molino (ABC’s Promised Land) as Special Agent Lala Dominguez, a former Marine with a dark sense of humor who will share “sparks” with Gibbs.
Of the new castings reported on Tuesday by sister site Deadline, Rodriguez will play Special Agent Vera Strickland, “a no-nonsense, sharp-witted Brooklynite who’s tough as nails and never minces words.” (The character of of Strickland was originated by Nip/Tuck‘s Roma Maffia a decade ago, in the Season 11 NCIS installment “Under the Radar.”)
Abercrumbie meanwhile will play Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo Sullivan, a “mama bear” who has wryly dubbed herself “HSIC” — Head Secretary in Charge.
NCIS: Origins: Everything We Know So Far
Mark Harmon will not appear in NCIS: Origins, but he will serve as its narrator as well as executive producer. His son, Sean Harmon, who has played Young Gibbs in NCIS flashbacks and came up with the idea for the prequel, will also serve as an EP alongside co-showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing this new chapter to life along with Mark and Sean Harmon,” Monreal and North said in a statement when the series was announced. “This really is the making of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. And even the most dedicated NCIS fans will discover that they don’t know the whole story.”
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