NCIS debuted in 2003 and more than 20 years later, fans are still captivated by the show — no matter who is starring on it.
When the CBS drama premiered, fans met Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his team, which initially consisted of Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander), Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Abby Scuito (Pauley Perrette) and Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum). Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) wasn’t introduced until episode seven.
At the start of season 22 in fall 2024, only McGee remained of the original cast. (McCallum died in September 2023 at the age of 90 and was honored during season 21.)
The new cast, however, is aware of the greats that went before them. “I think if Ziva came back and we got a good couple of scenes together, I would be beyond stoked,” Katrina Law, who plays Jessica Knight, exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2022 of possibly working with Cote de Pablo’s Ziva one day.
Scroll down to see which former NCIS stars have confirmed — or shut down the idea — of a comeback to the franchise:
Sasha Alexander
Character: Kate Todd
When They Exited: Season 9, Episode 14
Whether They’ll Return: Alexander explained her departure in July 2012, telling TV Guide, “People don’t realize that on a network show, you make 24 episodes a year — that’s 10 and a half months a year, 17 hours a day. It’s hardcore.”
While she hasn’t confirmed or denied a possible comeback, the showrunners hinted that Alexander was open to a real-life cameo after her character was honored during the 200th episode in 2012.
“Sasha was out of the country at the time and couldn’t come up and play with us. So she very graciously let us use her image, and we recut things into the episode,” executive producer Gary Glasberg told Entertainment Weekly in February 2012. “The sequence in the hospital room, there were hours and hours of opticals that went into that. … I’m very proud of it. It’s a challenge to do something like that and I think it worked pretty well.”
Alexander reunited with former costar Weatherly in March 2022 when she directed an episode of Bull, starring Weatherly. The reunion caused many NCIS fans to cry out for a TV reunion, but it has not happened yet.
Cote de Pablo
Character: Ziva David
When They Exited: Season 11, Episode 2
Whether They’ll Return: “When I walked out, I thought it was over and that was it,” de Pablo told USA Today in September 2019 of her exit six years prior. She noted that when she left it wasn’t because “ I wanted to go or because I was ready or because I was tired.” De Pablo claimed, “I didn’t really have an option.”
Although de Pablo didn’t expect to return to NCIS when she left, she appeared on one season 16 episode and four season 17 episodes. When asked about the future on the show, the actress told USA Today in 2019, “We have no idea [what might happen]. Really have no idea.”
Paramount+ announced in February 2024 that de Pablo is reprising her role as Ziva in the upcoming spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
Michael Weatherly
Character: Anthony DiNozzo
When They Exited: Season 13, Episode 24
Whether They’ll Return: “There will be more DiNozzo someday because he is the one character that felt unfinished … that’s my plan! We shall see …” Weatherly teased via X in January 2024.
The actor returned to the show the following month as part of the tribute episode to the late McCallum, who played Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on the show.
Weatherly is officially reprising his role as DiNozzo in the upcoming NCIS: Tony & Ziva spinoff series, which will air on Paramount+.
Pauley Perrette
Character: Abby Sciuto
When They Exited: Season 15, Episode 22
Whether They’ll Return: “Going back to being an actor would be taking away from this life of true authenticity that I’m living 100 percent of the time,” Perrette told Hello! magazine in October 2024, saying she will “never again” return to acting following her 2018 NCIS exit.
She added, “At this point in my life I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actor, especially at certain points in my life, was a great escape; it’s like a drug because I didn’t have to be me, I could be somebody else. My character didn’t have all of the problems that I was having. It’s why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth.”
Emily Wickersham
Character: Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop
When They Exited: Season 18, Episode 16
Whether They’ll Return: During an August 2024 episode of the “Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch” podcast, Wickersham hinted that her exit from the series is permanent. “I left the show, I found out I was pregnant a month later … So it was a combo of decompressing and trying to really relax and figure out how things were going to be without work,” she explained of when it hit her that her NCIS stint was over. “It’s all consuming. Your life is all NCIS when you’re on that show. It’s all day, every day, and you’re not really left with much time to do many things outside of that. So that was a real adjustment for me.”
Wickersham noted that after she left the show, she moved to New York City to be closer to her partner. “It was a weird moment in time. It was wonderful and weird,” she continued. “It’s strange to leave something that has been ingrained in you for so many years.”
The actress added, “I was ready to leave the show. It was time and I was ready to move on to something else, and I guess this was the something else I was meant to move on to. So it was good.”
Mark Harmon
Character: Leroy Jethro Gibbs
When They Exited: Season 19, Episode 4
Whether They’ll Return: “I have been asked that a lot,” Harmon said during the Television Critics Association summer press tour in July 2024 of whether he’ll return to the mothership series. “[But] I’ve always let the writers do what they want to do.”
When asked by TVLine that same month whether he’d come back for the show’s eventual series finale, Harmon replied, “I don’t know. It’s really about feeling like you’re fulfilled with a role or complete with a role.”
While Harmon’s future on NCIS is unknown, NCIS: Origins showrunner David J. North confirmed in September 2024 that the actor will briefly appear as Gibbs in the pilot episode. Harmon will also narrate the prequel series.
