“NCIS” star Rocky Carroll — who’s been on the series since 2008 — says the shocking death of his character, director Leon Vance, was not his decision.
Showrunner, Steve Binder, broke the news to Carroll last November that Vance would get killed off in the 500th episode, and Carroll described receiving the news was an “out-of-body experience.”
“He goes, ‘You want to hear more about the story?’ And I was like, ‘Let me process the whole thing, what you just told me. Let me take a moment,’” the actor recalled to People Wednesday.
“This wasn’t one of those scenarios where I came to the network or I came to the producers and said, ‘Hey, it’s been a great run, but I think I want to move on,’” Carroll further explained.
Binder had told Carroll that the decision to kill off director Leon Vance was made because production wanted “to do something big” for the landmark episode.
Carroll, 62, remembers Binder saying, “We want to do something that shocks our loyal viewers and just really turns the ‘NCIS’ universe upside down.”
The news came as even more of a shock to Carroll when he realized he only had two more episodes before shooting his final one.
“The only thing that surprised me more than being told what the storyline was, was how quickly I was able to come to terms with it and be OK with it,” he said. “I guess the director and the creative in me, my response was, ‘Really, that is actually a great story. It’s a terrific story.’”
Carroll said it was “incredibly emotional on set” when he filmed the final scene, especially because of his experience directing several episodes of the show in addition to starring in it.
“I have a very unique and different relationship with the guys on the crew, because three or four times a season I get to be a part of their world,” he shared.
“I’m on the other side of the camera. So my relationships with the crew run a lot deeper. All the guys, camera, lighting, sound, I know all these guys on a deeper level, because I also direct. So, yeah, it was very emotional.”
Although Carroll will miss being a part of the military police procedural drama, he is grateful that he was a series regular for 18 seasons.
“If this had happened in my third season as a cast member, I’d be devastated,” Carroll clarified. “But 18 seasons, to me, that’s the equivalent of living to be 105.”
“Here’s the best part,” he added. “It was my goodbye. The last day of shooting was December the 11th. That was the last day we shot this episode. But in the back of my mind I knew it was goodbye for now, because a month later I came back and directed an episode of the show.”
“As far as I know, I’ll be back next season to direct episodes. We’ve already talked about bringing Vance back in flashbacks,” Carroll teased.
Carroll’s beloved character met a shocking in the 500th episode of CBS show.
As Vance reacts to a bomb threat while working alongside an Army CID agent, the threat ends up being fake and the agent is secretly a smuggler who fatally shoots Vance.
“The team will be grieving, of course,” Binder said in an interview with TV Insider Wednesday. “Vance died to protect them all. And they are going to honor that by putting one foot in front of the other, and just continuing on their mission to protect and safeguard their country.”
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