For 13 seasons, “NCIS” has reliably chugged along, consistently pulling in 20 million viewers a week with its case-of-the-week plotlines and the easy charm of star Mark Harmon.
Now, in Season 14, the drama is shaking things up.
After series star Michael Weatherly departed in May (the character is off to explore single fatherhood, the actor to headline his own CBS drama “Bull”), “NCIS” is bringing in Wilmer Valderrama (“That ’70s Show”) and CBS alum Jennifer Esposito (“Blue Bloods”) as new cast members.
On the season premiere (Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CBS), the NCIS team investigates a deadly car explosion that leads them to Special Agent Nick Torres (Valderrama), who disappeared six months ago on an undercover assignment in Argentina and was presumed dead, or compromised. Valderrama, 36, best known for playing “’70s Show” foreign exchange student Fez, hopes the role will finally convince viewers to see him as a grown-up — and promises to add a darker edge to the procedural.
“The character is like nothing that ‘NCIS’ has ever seen,” he says. “He really challenges the other characters — he really pushes the boundaries and the guidelines of what may be morally OK to do when cracking a case.
“He’s a deep, deep undercover guy, which means he becomes the people that he is surrounding himself with, the people that he is investigating,” he adds.
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Harmon), seeing a bit of himself in the charismatic Torres, eventually invites him to join the NCIS team. While there is a bit of a mentor/father figure vibe between the two men, Torres’ many years as a lone wolf mean he doesn’t exactly play well with others.
The character is like nothing that ‘NCIS’ has ever seen. He really … pushes the boundaries.
- Wilmer Valderrama on his “NCIS” role as Nick Torres
“There’s going to be major clashing. Gibbs has really embraced the guidelines of the squadron and the rules for how he works. Nick just wants to do what it takes to get it cracking,” Valderrama says. “He’s one of the first characters to really get in Gibbs’ face, to voice his discomfort with certain methods.”
Having most recently guest-starred in five episodes of ABC’s long-running “Grey’s Anatomy” last season, Valderrama is somewhat used to being the rookie on a veteran show, and says since starting on “NCIS” he’s “never felt like the new guy.” Making the transition easier is the fact that Esposito, with whom he has been friends for almost 10 years, is also joining the cast as Special Agent Alex Quinn — who left to be an instructor until Gibbs lures her back to the field.
“We have a blast and we’re so silly and crazy on set together,” he says. “The history between her and my character is she was the one who trained me. Now we find ourselves on the same team. And also we may have had some type of history in the past, too.”
A former love interest perhaps? Valderrama will only hint.
“I didn’t say romantic, I didn’t say not romantic,” he says with a laugh. “There was some type of relationship there before, some type of connectivity that is going to be explored throughout the season at some point.”