Wilmer Valderrama and Vanessa Lachey Give a Sneak Peek Into the 'NCIS' 1000th Special Episode
Wilmer Valderrama, Vanessa Lachey
Just prior to tonight’s Entertainment Tonight special look at the upcoming NCIS 1,000th episode, entitled “A Thousand Yards,” which will air on April 15, USO Global Ambassadors Wilmer Valderrama and Vanessa Lachey spoke to service members around the globe through the organization’s Military Virtual Programming session about the milestone episode. The Zoom was hosted by Army vet/actor/Dancing with the Stars Season 13 winner J.R. Martinez.
Parade was invited to attend the international virtual event and it was obvious how much it meant to the participants on the other end to have the opportunity to speak directly with the NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i stars. Vanessa, who was a military brat herself, was a natural at sharing stories of her time as a child traveling from deployment to deployment with her father.
“It's easy to tell stories that come from the heart that you lived,” Vanessa tells Parade. “It means so much to me to be able to reconnect with people who are going through the same thing that I went through being a military child. So, to be able to give back in any way, even [if it’s] a small piece of doing this on television and bringing entertainment into homes. Because while we are true to respecting NCIS as a whole, we do understand that we're a destination for families to come together to be entertained and to watch the good guys win in the end. I love that we get to do that and bring that joy and humor and drama to them.”
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS
On the Entertainment Tonight NCIS: The First 1,000 special, stars from NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: Hawai’i will share memories, with a look back to the show’s origins as a spinoff from JAG and also include behind-the-scenes footage of next week’s 1,000th NCISverse episode.
Related: The Who, What, Why and When for the NCIS Franchise’s 1,000th Episode
But first, Parade got the scoop from Wilmer and Vanessa about the episode and their respective roles in it and how the producers figured out what would be memorable enough to mark the milestone, while staying true to the history of the military franchise.
“The first idea was to go back to that first episode to an enemy that you could bring back 1,000 episodes of NCIS later,” Wilmer tells Parade. “The second thought was how do you incorporate Easter eggs from around the entire universe of NCIS? That was also very tricky. So, the decision was made to bring everyone together with a common threat.”
Once that threat was established, the producers also decided that they wanted the episode to feel just like any every other NCIS episode despite it marking the 1,000th episode of the NCIS franchise.
“It didn't need to feel like a season premiere or season finale, it needed to feel like the best version of what we do,” Wilmer continues. “That’s exactly what it is.”
Related: CBS Orders New Drama NCIS: Origins Featuring a Younger Gibbs
In staying true to the history of the series and his role in it, Wilmer’s character, Special Agent Nick Torres, will be right in the middle of the action.
“He gets in there, he gets his hands dirty, and he's going to roll up his sleeves and he's going to call his friends,” Wilmer explains. “There's a very specific special moment between Vanessa's character [Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant] and Torres in this episode.”
Photo: Karen Neal/CBS
So, that’s how Tennant gets involved, even though it will be at a distance from her office in Pearl Harbor. In previous crossover episodes, we’ve seen that Torres and Tennant have developed a special friendship, so it isn’t a surprise that he would turn to her for help or advice.
“While it’s a massive moment for NCIS at 1000, while 1000 was being filmed, we [NCIS: Hawai'i] were filming 1001, so the actual title of our episode is ‘The Next 1000,’ and it's a very emotionally intense episode for me,” Vanessa teases of what’s to come. “It's massive flashbacks with my mother abandoning me, which is not only something that was scripted but is also a literal translation in my real life, so it was very hard to do that. They were able to merge the two by having me come in on the Zoom and put that hat on and then go back to being the vulnerable agent that I was.”
Related: Daniela Ruah Returns to the NCISVerse
In the small world department, the 1001th episode was directed for NCIS: Hawaii by NCIS: Los Angeles alum Daniela Ruah (Kensi Blye).
“It's just such an incredible testament to the NCIS franchise how we are able to continue doing this and supporting each other,” Vanessa continues. “I 100 percent believe that my character wouldn't have been able to get to the places I needed to get without [Kensi] not only having been an NCIS agent on L.A. for 14 years, but for her being a woman in the field that we act on. [Her role] was really instrumental in me getting to that point. As far as my call with Wilmer, yeah, you know I'm always there and no matter what, Tenant is always a phone call or FaceTime away. TNT [tried and true] for life.”
The “A Thousand Yards” episode of NCIS will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS on Monday, April 15.
Next, Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo Return to the NCIS Universe in a Tony/Ziva Spinoff
