What To Know
- Eric Christian Olsen revealed that CBS initially did not want to cast him as Marty Deeks on NCIS: Los Angeles.
- Creator Shane Brennan had to fight for his casting.
Eric Christian Olsen may not have been part of NCIS: Los Angeles from the beginning, but once he joined near the end of Season 1, he became a vital part of the show and his character, Marty Deeks, of the team. (The romance between his Deeks and Daniela Ruah‘s Kensi? One of the best on a procedural drama.) But as he revealed on the latest NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast, hosted by Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover from the mothership, creator Shane Brennan had to fight to cast him.
“They didn’t want me as Deeks,” Olsen shared, and when Reasonover asked if they wanted him for a different part, he said, “They just didn’t want me period.”
At the time, he’d found out that NCIS: LA was looking for a series regular when, amidst doing movies, he fell in love and was looking for something in Los Angeles, so he asked his agent to find him a TV show that filmed there.
“They were like, ‘We have a show that’s looking for a series regular. It’s to play like a street cop.” I was like, ‘OK, what is it?’ They said, ‘It’s already on the air.’ And I was like, ‘OK, what’s it called?’ And they were like, ‘NCIS: Los Angeles.’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of it.’ They’re like, ‘It’s the number two show on TV.’ And I go, ‘What’s the number one show on TV?’ And they said, ‘NCIS.’ I go, ‘I’ve never heard of that,’” Olsen recalled. “They were like, ‘Just take the meeting.’”
Olsen then met with Brennan. “He talked about the character, and he’s like, ‘You want to try some stuff?’” Olsen continued. “Literally it was me and him and a finger gun in a scene, with just casting and Shane in the office, and he had scripted a page and a half of dialogue, and he’s like, ‘I feel like you want to try some stuff,’ and I was like, ‘Well what’s the goal of the relationship? Let’s talk about the relationship.’ They were trying to find a partner for Kensi, which is Daniela Ruah, and I was like, ‘Is it flirty? … I’m just going to make fun of her.’” He proceeded to improvise doing just that.
But while Brennan liked him for the part, he had to fight for Olsen, who explained, “They sent that tape to the executives that are no longer at CBS, and they’re like, ‘Let’s keep looking.’ They’re like, ‘Cool. What else you got?’”
Olsen was originally supposed to be in five episodes but ended up doing a couple then going off to do a movie. “[Brennan] fought to bring me back for Season 2,” he said. “Then CBS was amazing and warm and have become the reason that I’m here is because we’re in business with the best people that I know in this industry, like deeply good human beings that are thoughtful and I think are human first in a very difficult business.”
Since NCIS: LA ended three years ago, he’s become an executive producer on shows like Matlock and, for the upcoming third season, NCIS: Origins.