1 of 4 | Adam Campbell stars in Tuesday’s episode of “NCIs Origins.” Photo courtesy of CBS
Great News and Mixology alum Adam Campbell said he was honored to reprise his NCIS character in Tuesday’s episode of the show’s Origins prequel.
“I was so thrilled and relieved at the same time that they called me to play the role again,” Campbell, 45, told UPI in a Zoom interview Monday.
“It’s a new show and they could have gone in a different direction with it and I just felt so excited to get that phone call. So, it was brilliant. I was excited before I started work and then, obviously, starting work, it was even more thrilling because I got to work with a whole bunch of new people. Everyone was extremely kind and welcoming.”
David McCallum played British medical examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard for 20 years on the original NCIS until his death in 2023 at the age of 90.
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Campbell previously played Ducky as a younger man in flashbacks throughout the main series on CBS.
Origins is set in the early 1990s and follows a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell), the character Mark Harmon played on NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans for 18 seasons.
In returning to the franchise, Campbell wanted to honor McCallum’s cherished memory, while also bringing something fresh to the role.
“There’s an added sort of weight and gravity to it because David passed away and, so, there’s this sense of never wanting to do a bad job, but especially not wanting to do a bad job now he’s no longer with us,” Campbell said.
“The mantle feels a bit heavier now. The great thing was I got to meet him many times and hang out with him,” the actor recalled. “He phoned me up immediately, within hours of me getting the job, and said, ‘Let’s have lunch and let’s talk.’ And we talked for a long time.”
They realized they had both attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, though their classes were many years apart.
“We got to share drama school stories and, then, as we talked about the role, he talked about some characteristics and aspects that I really needed to be aware of, which was great,” Campbell said.
“He also said: ‘We’re two different actors, so don’t feel you need to do an impression of David McCallum playing Ducky. Find Ducky yourself.'”
McCallum did, however, emphasize the importance of demonstrating heart and humor wherever Ducky shows up.
“Ducky likes to see the lighter side of things, even in a situation that is tragic or horrific. There is always this slant that Ducky has, which is slightly off and slightly eccentric,” the actor said.
“But I think David, obviously, teased that out of the character over the years and he encouraged me to do the same as well, which is a really lovely bit of advice.”
Campbell plays Ducky as a kind, charming man of great intelligence.
“There’s no guile about him. He is what he is,” the actor said.
“You don’t feel that he’s got ulterior motives. He’s not boastful. He’s got this brilliant moral integrity,” Campbell added. “He talks the same as he would to a politician or a plumber. He doesn’t really care about what people do. He really values people as individuals.”
Ducky is also a gifted raconteur who rattles off copious historical facts and medical terminology with ease.
“I’ve never had so much to do in an episode and the medical jargon stuff I really struggled with,” Campbell said.
“Literally, for a week solid, I was getting up and learning the medical stuff,” he recalled. “I’ve never said those words of my life. It doesn’t roll off the tongue and then a lot of the way that Americans say these things, Brits don’t say them like that. So, I had to communicate with a friend in the UK who’s in medicine and ask, ‘How do you say this word?'”
Coincidentally, Campbell’s wife Jayma Mays is currently working on the hospital comedy St. Denis Medical.
“Last night, she was trying to learn this medical dialogue with me. I was like, ‘Ah, you see, it’s not so easy, is it?'” he laughed. “So, it’s kind of fun.”
Ducky’s chattiness is particularly noticeable when he shares scenes with Jethro (Stowell), who is much more measured with his words.
“Jethro’s silent!” Campbell quipped. “As an actor, you hope that another actor will chip in and take the camera off you for a second, but not in that scene! It was really hard.”
