NCIS wouldn’t be the same without the lovable chief medical examiner Jimmy Palmer, played by actor Brian Dietzen.
NCIS returns for season 20 on CBS, marking the show’s second decade on the network. Some of its stars have come and gone over the years, but one of the actors who has remained is Brian Dietzen, who plays the chirpy Jimmy Palmer. Dietzen, on the other hand, was only supposed to appear in one episode.
In March 2015, Dietzen appeared on The Steve Harvey Show to discuss the tenth anniversary of NCIS.
He talked about how the cast still likes each other after all these years and how “blessed” they were to love their jobs.
The show’s host, Harvey, then mentioned that Dietzen wasn’t supposed to be on the show for very long.
However, it was a last-minute addition to his audition that landed the 44-year-old actor a callback.
“It was supposed to be one day and done [for Jimmy on NCIS],” Dietzen explained.
“I got these glasses as a backup because I couldn’t find my real ones.”
“And I went to this audition and made some decisions with this character to make him apologetic, peevish, and extremely uncertain because I didn’t have anything like that on my reel.”
“I told myself, ‘It’s only a one-day thing, I’ll just do it and go home.'” And they kept asking me back, so I was truly blessed even ten years later.”
Dietzen had been on NCIS since 2004, serving as Donald “Ducky” Mallard’s (played by David McCallum) assistant.
He stayed in a supporting role until 2012, when he was promoted to series regular at the start of season 10.
Jimmy has always been the team’s upbeat member, always ready to cheer up his colleagues and lend a helping hand when things get tough.
But it wasn’t until season 18 that Jimmy needed help after tragedy struck.
Jimmy married mortician Breena the same year Dietzen was promoted to series regular (Michelle Pierce).
They had a daughter, Victoria, and despite some marital difficulties later in life, Jimmy and Breena were still going strong.
Fans were devastated in Season 18 when it was revealed that Breena had been giving an off-screen exit.
She d1ed of cor0na v1rus, leaving Jimmy widowed and raising their young daughter alone.
Jimmy has since reopened his heart as he has begun to fall for Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law).
Since she arrived, the two have been flirting a lot, and they’ve even gone on a few dates.
So, could Jimmy and Jessica really have a future?
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