Michael Weatherly starred in 13 seasons of NCIS as Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo and, as one of the leads, he took part in some major scenes. Fans would probably agree with the notion that the veteran actor handled that material like a pro. Hilariously enough, though, he found himself thrown for a loop when asked to be in a scene — in a background capacity. Faced with that, however, Weatherly apparently found a very funny way to get himself out of doing a lot of background work afterwards.
NCIS cast members Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover recently welcomed the franchise’s longtime recurring actor Joe Spano to their Partners and Probies podcast. The trio covered more than a few topics related to the long-running CBS drama series. Eventually, they reached the topic of filming scenes, with Spano noting that even if someone is a background actor in a scene featuring 40 people, they have to stay put until the work is done. As seen in an Instagram clip, Dietzen then recalled the funny story involving Weatherly:
I remember one time, we were at a crime scene on NCIS, and they wanted Weatherly to be in the background, like kind of cleaning up. He goes, ‘What? You want me to be in the background cleaning up the whole time? I’m not going to say anything?’ And it’s like, ‘No.’ And he goes, ‘OK.’ And then he proceeded to take a ladder out of the truck and take it over to the van, and then he took it back from the van over to the truck, back and forth [laughs]. And he goes, ‘They’re not going to have me in the background too much after that.’
To be fair, I can understand why Michael Weatherly would be somewhat perplexed by the notion of being asked to shoot a scene only for background purposes. Still, the job is the job, and he did film it, just not the way the crew probably intended, though. What Weatherly ultimately did could be described as A+ trolling, and I’m chuckling just thinking about it. I’m not completely sure he never ever had to do any more background work after that, yet I could surely imagine the production team having cut down on that material for him, at the very least.
Weatherly’s tenure on NCIS’ mothership show has long since ended, though, as he exited the series in 2016. Around that time, Weatherly shared his reasons for deciding to step away from the series (and, no, they don’t involve any background acting obligations). Weatherly shared that the prior exit of co-star Cote de Pablo (who played his on-screen love interest, Ziva David) partially prompted the decision. Aside from that, though, Weatherly also felt as though he’d “stayed at the party for too long” and wanted to try new endeavors.
Both Weatherly and de Pablo did, however, reprise their roles in the spinoff series Tony & Ziva. Unfortunately, the show was ultimately canceled by Paramount+ after only a single season, and fans didn’t hold back their displeasure. Of course, the writers could find a way for the characters to return to the franchise somehow. Weatherly actually joked about doing something along the lines of NCIS: Retirement Home. If Weatherly does return to the franchise as Tony, though, I can’t imagine him doing much background work.
Stream NCIS now using a Paramount+ subscription, and check out Tony & Ziva’s sole season on that platform as well. Additionally, know that the mothership show is set to return to CBS alongside prequel series NCIS: Origins this fall amid the 2026 TV schedule.
