What NCIS' Mark Harmon's co-star really thought of him - Brian Dietzen reveals all
NCIS fans saw a huge change to the series last season, when beloved star Mark Harmon bowed out of the show after nearly 20 years.
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The actor left in the fourth episode of season 19, and his loss has been noticed not only by viewers, but by his co-stars.
Brian Dietzen, who plays Jimmy Palmer in the series, recently opened up about Mark's departure while chatting to Looper, as well as revealing what he thought of him as a colleague.
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"On a personal note, I'm really thankful I got to work with Mark and call him a friend for that many years. I feel similarly about everybody I've worked with there. It's been a wonderful, wonderful place for 20 years.
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"As people come into our set and people go, it feels like you're making new family members and you're making new friends all the time," he said. On not having Mark on the show, he described it as a "massive change".
"This whole television show has been built on the backs and the effort and the work of people like Mark Harmon, like Cote de Pablo, like Michael Weatherly, like Pauley Perrette.
NCIS' Mark Harmon and Brian Dietzen are incredibly close
There's a lot of people that have made this thing the entity that it is, that have served their time, or however you want to put it. They've been family members, and Mark has certainly been the patriarch of this family for 19 solid years," he said.
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"You feel that loss right away on an energy level, but also on a personal level day to day." Meanwhile, Brian - who has also been in the show for 20 years - is seeing a big change to his character this series. Jimmy's love life has been a big plot line.
NCIS has been running for over 20 years
Jimmy and Jessica (played by Katrina Law) started off their time together on the show as best friends, but eventually, sparks began to fly as they admitted their feelings for one another in the season 19 finale.
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Jimmy recently opened up about his character's relationship with Jessica while chatting to Looper ahead of the premiere of season 20.
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