NCIS LA fans will know what a key part of the team Marty Deeks is. But why was he almost replaced..?
NCIS Los Angeles fans love the character of Marty Deeks (played by Eric Christian Olsen) who has starred in 11 seasons of the hit CBS show so far. But here’s why he might never have featured in the series at all.
Who almost replaced Marty Deeks in NCIS Los Angeles?
The beloved character of Deeks first appeared the season one episode Hand-to-Hand when he was working for the LAPD.
He was undercover as a mixed martial artist named Jason Wyler when he encountered Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) who was also undercover.
During the episode, Deeks went on to save Sam’s life when his cover was blown, marking his first major impact on the show.
Deeks was then offered a job by NCIS head Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt) who had decided to make a liaison officer between the LAPD and NCIS.
Brought back as a regular in season two, Deeks went on to officially became a part of the team and has had a number of major storylines over the years.
This includes some more undercover missions as well as his romantic storyline with fellow NCIS agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah).
However, it seems like this could have all been very different if the show’s creators had originally had their way.
This is because when the character of Dominic Vail (Adam Jamal Craig) was written out of the show, a main cast position came available.
According to IMDb, this was not initially offered to Eric Christian Olsen but instead another familiar face.
NCIS bosses first asked Brian Avers if he wanted the main role to reprise his role of Special Agent Mike Renko.
Fans will remember how Renko initially appeared in the backdoor pilot of the NCIS spin-off.
However, after he turned down the role, the creators decided to make a new character to introduce, which eventually became Deeks.
In the past Olsen has spoken about his audition for NCIS to Red Carpet News TV when he revealed he first tried out for the show so he could start to raise a family in Los Angeles.
He also told the publication how he initially went up for a role on the show which was not quite suited to him.
He joked: “They’re casting a role for one of the new leads, his name is Victor Cruz, he’s an east LA Latino street cop. He said ‘I’m perfect for it.’”
Although he decided to go for it because it shoots in Los Angeles and fit with his plans at the time.
Olsen added: “I remember the audition scene was me talking about a motorcycle with Kensi and everybody else they had auditioned for this part had a chemistry read with her.
“So I came in and did my audition and the showrunner Shane Brennan looked at me and was like ‘I feel like there’s more you want to try.’”
Then he revealed how he was given the chance to improvise and come up with his own interpretation of the character.
In the room he made up a monologue on the spot about Kensi and her prior boyfriends, which helped land him the role.
He explained: “They brought me on board for a couple of episodes to see if it worked. Then they brought me back for the second season and that has been life-changing.”
Deeks is also set to play a big role in the upcoming season 12 of the show, which is due to air later in 2020.
As fans will remember, he and Kensi had begun to discuss having children, which could play a part in the new series.
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