Chris O’Donnell Addresses Possibility of Bringing Callen to ‘NCIS: New York’
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What To Know
- Chris O’Donnell played Callen on NCIS: LA for 14 seasons alongside LL COOL J’s Sam.
- Now that LL COOL J is heading NCIS: New York, could we get a reunion?
- O’Donnell currently stars on 9-1-1: Nashville.
For 14 seasons, one of TV’s best partnerships was Sam Hanna and Grisha (or G. as he was for so many years) Callen on NCIS: Los Angeles. Since the series ended, both LL COOL J and Chris O’Donnell have moved on to other shows. O’Donnell stars as Captain Don Hart on the 9-1-1 spinoff, Nashville, now in its second season, while LL COOL J has reprised his role as Sam in the new NCIS spinoff, New York.
And so when TV Insider caught up with O’Donnell about the start of 9-1-1: Nashville Season 2 (plagues!), we had to ask about the chances of seeing him on NCIS: New York to see Sam and Callen together again.
“I don’t know. I’m a little busy right now with Nashville,” he admitted. “But I don’t know, maybe someday.”
There’s already been one franchise character on NCIS: New York: Brian Dietzen brought the mothership’s Dr. Jimmy Palmer over for a video call in the premiere.
Disney/Jake Giles Netter
“It felt good [having him there],” LL COOL J told us. “I love working with him. It was great to have him as a part of it. And I think we’ll do more crossovers in the future, and I’d love to invite him back as well.”
According to showrunner Byron Balasco, “He might pop up again. Others might pop up. It’s one kind of big family, so there’ll be cross-pollination.”
He also told us, as part of our digital cover story, that we’ll hear about the other characters from Los Angeles on New York.
Neither LL COOL J nor Scott Caan would name who they wanted to see show up from across the franchise at the time, but both are all for it. “We’re going to leave it open,” said LL COOL J. “They’re all welcome. The whole universe is welcome. We’re the new kids on the block in terms of the franchise.”
Do you want Chris O’Donnell to reprise his role as Callen on NCIS: New York? If so, what would you want to see? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS: New York, Tuesdays, 9/8c, CBS
9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC
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How can highly paid professionals in the TV industry smash the airwaves with an "upcomg" NEW YORK CITY tv network show, showing off New York City as a major draw,with major well-known actors/faces, but then come out with this mess of a show?! NYCPD Blue,that serial show with Gary Sinese, and a few other "New York City" tv shows, filimed in LA, managed to bring out a raw NYC feel ( almost often). But this new show was seemingly a blue screen New York City and filmed in LA, pretending to be NYC. Cinematogpry skyline shots looked college level. With that being the overwhelming, outstanding and obvious fact while watching a New York City show, ones ultimately can easily just turn it off and hope to never see such nonsence again. Streaming has close to a hundred shows worthy of a 23 runs season, instead of 8/10, and we get this crap instead?! Add that ellison family, and we are fkd!
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It really was filmed in NYC
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Yes! I absolutely want Chris O’Donnell to return as Callen. Seeing Callen and Sam together again would be fantastic. But I’d take it even further: bring back the other NCIS shows for new seasons, too! I love this entire franchise, and I wish we could keep following all these teams.
I have an idea for one giant crossover that could bring everyone together through a single massive case. Imagine what initially appear to be unrelated incidents in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawaiʻi, and Sydney—a murdered naval intelligence officer, a missing weapons shipment, and the disappearance of an undercover agent. Each team discovers a different piece of the same international conspiracy, until they realize they’re investigating a coordinated threat targeting Navy installations across multiple countries.
Then comes the twist: someone behind it has access to their classified operations and knows the teams’ next moves. Suddenly, the investigators become targets themselves.
Give us undercover missions, intense pursuits, rescues, shocking betrayals, and cliffhangers that carry the case from one show into the next. Even NCIS: Origins could contribute through a decades-old investigation whose buried evidence becomes crucial to solving the present-day case.
Every team should have an essential role, with their own characters and expertise helping crack something none could solve alone. And at the heart of it, give us that Callen-and-Sam partnership again!
Make it a huge television event that also launches new seasons for the returning shows. There are so many more stories these characters could tell, and I would absolutely be watching!
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