Michael Weatherly Once Revealed What Was Uncomfortable About Playing His ‘NCIS’ Character
NCIS star Michael Weatherly had fond memories of his time working on the hit series as Tony DiNozzo. But the actor quipped there was one thing about playing the quirky agent that he found uncomfortable.
What Michael Weatherly didn’t miss about playing Tony DiNozzo in ‘NCIS’
Weatherly’s departure may have come as a shock for many NCIS fans. The actor stayed with the series for the long-haul, having portrayed Tony DiNozzo from season 1 all the way to season 13. Weatherly once confided that he knew he was gearing up to leave as early as season 12.
“It felt totally natural; it felt like the right thing to do and it occurred to me—what a blessing,” he once said according to Cinemablend. “What an extraordinary gift. I think that might be the best thing about NCIS that is invisible to the eye. That’s what magic is. It’s this combination of people that come together—all these personalities—all these wonderful people that have been doing this job for as long as I have.”
Weatherly also asserted that it was time for another actor to step into the position he kept occupied since the show’s second season.
“What got difficult is it seemed like the character had to go. You can’t be in that No. 2 slot forever. That started to become a constraint to me and that ended up being some of the tension DiNozzo was having on the team. McGee [Sean Murray] is looking at him going, ‘Will you get out of here, I wanna be No. 2,’” Weatherly once recalled to Chicago Tribune.
But given how much time Weatherly spent with the character, it was natural to miss certain things about portraying DiNozzo. However, there was also one uncomfortable aspect about the NCIS agent that Weatherly could’ve done without.
“I am going to miss his irrepressive sense of humor and what I won’t miss is wearing that gun. That was uncomfortable,” Weatherly said in a resurfaced interview with Access Hollywood (via IB Times).
Why Michael Weatherly didn’t regret his decision to leave ‘NCIS’ behind
Weatherly has always seemed secure in his decision to leave the show. Long-running network shows like NCIS were known to require long hours from its actors. Stepping away from NCIS allowed Weatherly to spend even more time with his growing family. He has three children, two of whom he shares with his wife Bojana Jankovic. The actor felt it was more than an opportune time to be a more present father in his children’s lives.
“I think a lot about the kids and the time I get to spend with them now at this age at four and two and a-half which is such a critical time and I’m really looking forward to it,” Weatherly said. “They just have some extraordinary things going on in their life and they have great questions for me about why frogs and crickets make sort of the same sound?”
Still, despite his choice, Weatherly admitted that deciding it was time to go wasn’t easy.
“I never got sick of it, I never got tired of it. I always appreciated the gift of the job,” Weatherly said. “But the hardest part of the whole experience was thinking, ‘Oh no, I think it’s time I have to leave.’ That was really the only hard part of the whole experience.’”
What Michael Weatherly stole from set
Weatherly wasn’t afraid to take home a few souvenirs from NCIS after leaving the show. But he wouldn’t disclose what the memorabilia was.
“I took one secret thing from the set that I keep with me that I’ll keep with me,” he said. “That’ll be a thing that makes me laugh every time I look at it so it’s a little small memento but and I can’t share it with you just because I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
