The cast and crew of NCIS: Los Angeles officially wrapped up filming last week after spending 14 years together, and star Chris O’Donnell is having a hard time saying goodbye.
On Friday, March 3, O’Donnell and the rest of the team got together one final time for a massive cast party to commemorate their impressive run on prime-time TV. After concluding production, everyone involved in the series gathered for drinks, music, and speeches before moving on to the next phase of their careers.
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O’Donnell, who has been with the show since it began in 2009, was on hand for the festivities. And as he shared with ET Canada’s Keshia Chanté, the experience was overwhelming “emotional.”
“I was very emotional two nights ago, when we wrapped up, more than I expected,” he said during the party’s red carpet walk. “It was a strange feeling, coming to the set for the last time. But when it’s final-final, and you say goodbye, it’s just, it all comes back.”
“You realize there’s too many people in the room to say goodbye to,” O’Donnell continued. “There’s too many people to express how you feel about them. It’s just been so many shared experiences, and it’s a lot of time with a group of people. It’s intense for 14 years.”
‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Series Finale Delayed
When asked how he handled the situation, he admitted he didn’t do it well. O’Donnell was so overwhelmed that he “couldn’t speak,” but he realized that was a normal response while leaving behind so many close friends.
“I had trouble forming words. And I think that’s healthy,” he continued. “I think it’s good. I really love this whole crew and the cast and everyone that we work together. It’s so hard to get one of these shows to work. And when you get one that works, and the rhythm that we had, it was just kind of magic in a bottle, and we, I think, we all feel really blessed and fortunate and thankful.”
NCIS: Los Angeles is the second longest-running show in the procedural’s history. It is only bested by the original series, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.
While LA was originally slotted to end on May 14th, CBS recently announced that the series finale has been expanded into a two-hour event. And to accommodate, the network pushed the episode to May 21.