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‘NCIS’: How Mark Harmon’s Longtime Co-Star Sean Murray Describes Working With Him

Sean Murray who plays Tim McGee on NCIS says Mark Harmon is the reason they all still have a job. The show has remained dominant in the ratings for nearly two decades. Murray thanks Harmon for that.

“We wouldn’t be here, 16 years later, if it wasn’t for [Mark] Harmon,” he told CountryLiving.com. “Harmon is a very special individual.”

They’d actually worked together before NCIS, Murray said.

“I actually worked with him when I was 15 on another show called Harts of the West,” Sean reveals. Jeff Bridges was supposed to play a “drunken (rodeo) clown,” but he couldn’t do it because of a scheduling issue.

“And they got Harmon to come and do the part instead… which I’ll never forget. That’s where I first met Harmon. And he made an impression on me even back then,” Murray said.

You can see Harmon’s performance as the clown here.

Murray has had a front-row seat to watch Harmon since season 1 of NCIS, though he didn’t become a series regular until season 2. And he’s learned a lot from the former UCLA quarterback turned actor.

“He’s a real actor. He goes for the realness of it, the truth of it, you know,” Sean told CountryLiving.com. “That’s what we all strive to do as actors. Boy, is he good at it.”

Harmon’s Future on ‘NCIS’ is Always in Question

Season 18 of NCIS ended with a bang, quite literally. As Harmon’s character, Agent Gibbs’ boat exploded with him aboard. But we see him swim away at the end. It appears he was trying to fake his own death.

Harmon’s future on the show is completely up in the air with this turn. But, he told Larry King in 2014, it’s always been like that.

Despite NCIS reaching more than 300 episodes in its long run, the character is always evolving as it ages with the actor. And with that, he’s always learning new things, which can cause some fear. And put the show’s future in jeopardy. But he’s not worried about that anymore. CBS already renewed the show for a 19th season.

“I don’t believe two hundred and ten episodes in, going into your number one show, no one is bored. It’s still fun to play those roles. It’s still fun to play opposite these people that I get to work with every day. As long as that maintains, I think that all of us feel the same way,” he said. “I don’t think that anybody feels like they’re interested in running something into the ground. They would much rather this end on the high side, and they all end at some point. Right now, there’s nothing but future ahead of us, and I think that everyone feels that.”