NCIS: LA star Chris O’Donnell has spent more than a decade playing a character without many family ties, but the actor himself has had practically his entire family appear on the long-running CBS drama. That said, he recently opened up about how bringing his wife in front of the camera didn’t go so well, and the story is pretty hilarious in hindsight.
Chris O’Donnell, who has portrayed G. Callen since the start of NCIS: LA, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When Colbert brought up how almost everyone in the actor’s family has been on NCIS: LA, O’Donnell shared a pretty funny story about when his wife and her friends begged to be in an episode that he was directing, and what went wrong:
So they have a scene where there’s this guy come into a restaurant, and he’s shooting up the place, and everyone freaks out and panics, and they’re running away. I’m watching the playback after we did the take because there’s hundreds of people there. There’s one group of girls comes through, and they’re all laughing hysterically, and they’re still carrying real champagne that they had ordered themselves. And I look back, and the DP comes, and he goes, ‘Chris, you know they’re all laughing.’ And so I go, ‘Yeah, I know. That’s my wife. We’re gonna handle that.’ And I go back and go, ‘Guys, you’re gonna get me fired. So you need to cooperate here, and maybe when the guy starts firing a gun, it’s not funny. That’s all.’
Even though it’s safe to say that star/director Chris O’Donnell wasn’t going to be fired from NCIS: LA because of his wife laughing through an intense scene, it’s easy to see why he had to have a talk with her and her friends. The show must go on, spouse on set or not!
Luckily, it sounds like filming got back on track after O’Donnell chatted with the women and said that they were going to get him fired, and now he has a hilarious story to tell about the experience.
O’Donnell has directed three episodes of NCIS: LA, but hasn’t directed one since 2015. The show has already been renewed for Season 14, so perhaps he’ll step behind the camera yet again. If he does, it’s probably safe to say that his wife won’t have a starring role. Of course, maybe some extra laughs every once in a while would be a good thing. The NCIS: LA team definitely deserves to catch a break after some of the most serious arcs.
NCIS: LA hit its milestone 300th episode in May and will return for Season 14 this fall. Not much is known about what the team will be up to, but fans should expect Linda Hunt’s Hetty to make a comeback. A recent picture between Sean Murray and LL Cool J had fans talking nonstop about a crossover, so who knows just what will happen next season? For all of Chris O’Donnell’s conversation with Stephen Colbert, check out the full clip:
Chris O’Donnell has kept busy at CBS with another show as well, although his other series isn’t scripted. Come Dance with Me, which the actor co-created and executive produced with NCIS: LA costar LL Cool J, aired its Season 1 finale earlier this month. It’s unclear whether it will have another season, and the actor’s contributions remained behind the scenes, but it’s safe to say that he’ll still be going strong on the network with Season 14 of NCIS: LA.
The latest season of NCIS: LA is streaming on Paramount+ with a subscription! Be sure to check out CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV schedule to see what else is coming soon to keep you occupied until O’Donnell is back on your screen.