NCIS actor Mark Harmon’s wife Pam Dawber wowed audiences with her portrayal of investigative Journalist Marcie Warren, but this isn’t the first part she’s been offered. Just like Mark Harmon, Dawber has an impressive acting career of her own. The Mork and Mindy and My Sister Sam star knows how to pick her roles at this point.
NCIS has been on TV for almost two decades. With an actress like Pam Dawber married to one of its stars, it only seems natural that she’d be asked to make an appearance, but Dawber turned offers down each time. She explained her reasoning in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview.
Dawber Has Repeatedly turned Down ‘NCIS’ Roles
“The show has been on for a hundred years,” she joked. “And they have come at me a few times. Either I just didn’t want to do it or I didn’t appreciate what it was they wanted me to do. Or it was near Christmas and it was like, “I can’t do this. I’ve got my parents coming into town.” I just haven’t been interested in, you know, chasing the business. At this age, that’s what you do. You’d have to really want it.”
For Dawber, it was never about getting to spend time on the NCIS set with her husband, though surely that’s an added bonus. Instead, as an actress, she only wanted to take roles that really spoke to her.
“I just don’t want to put myself out anymore. You know the old song, “I haven’t got time for the pain.” Then I guess they had created this character, Marcie. Mark didn’t tell me about it. Suddenly I have an email from my agent and I was like, ‘Oh, poor Harry, my poor agent, here we go again. I’m going to turn him down.’ And he goes, ‘Well, you might want to read this.'”
Pam Dawber Liked Marcie Warren Enough to Join the Cast
Marcie Warren truly is a one-of-a-kind character. With intellect, drive, and sharp wit, Warren truly would be a fun character to play. Apparently, Mark Harmon thought so as well.
“I guess they were running names for who they could bring in for it and Mark said, ‘You should be talking to my wife about this character.’ The character is so good. I just fell in love with what they wrote. And then I had anxiety like, ‘Oh my God, am I going to do this?'”
So after years of trying to get her on NCIS, Dawber finally agreed to what the producers had to offer. It’ll be interesting to see if she makes an appearance in season 19. Her husband, Mark Harmon, will have a reduced role as Jethro Gibbs. NCIS along with two of its spinoffs, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: Hawai’i will return for the 2021-2022 broadcast season this fall.
