It may have been years in the making, but “NCIS” star Mark Harmon is finally working with his wife. As the lead character and executive producer of the popular crime drama, Harmon recently invited his wife to guest star on “NCIS” for Tuesday’s episode.
His wife, Pam Dawber, plays the role of Marcie Warren, an investigative reporter who intrigues and irritates current Naval Criminal Investigative Service exile, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon.
“I blew my own mind,” Dawber joked about her time on the show. “I certainly was not shopping to go back on television, and Mark didn’t even tell me this was going to come my way until I suddenly got a call from my agent. I’m usually like, ‘Harry, leave me alone! I don’t want to do this anymore!’ Then, Mark told me they’d created this character, and they were naming all these actresses they could go to. And he said, ‘What you’re looking for is my wife.'”
Dawber also added that she had turned down various roles on “NCIS” in the past,” but her “NCIS” co-star Rocky Carroll encouraged her to take on the part.
“He said, ‘You know everybody here. We love you. It’ll be safe. It’ll be fun.’ I ended up going upstairs and putting on my meditation tape, and I breathed and I cried. And I decided to do it.”
Mark Harmon’s Wife Opens up About Working With Husband on ‘NCIS’
However, Dawber had doubts about the job. “I thought, ‘What if I can’t remember my lines? What if I look like everybody’s grandma?’ And then, this was my twisted internal dialogue: ‘What will make you feel worse, chickening out, or going forward and being scared but agreeing to do it?’ Chickening out really would have made me unhappy with myself, so I did it, and we just had a blast.”
Although Dawber and Harmon have been married for 34 years, Dawber admitted that she was “a little nervous” about working with her husband on “NCIS.”
“I love to hear about his day, not be in his day, and he likes to come home and separate himself from the studio. He’s so supportive of me, and he was just wonderful. We had a really good time doing this.”
Additionally, Dawber appears in the “NCIS” season finale, scheduled to air on May 25. Even though the network renewed the show for its 19th season, there’s no guarantee Dawber will appear in the new season— something she’s made peace with. “You know, I’m just not going down that road at all.”
