Mark Harmon Got Physical With Michael Weatherly On NCIS After Their Recorded Scene Started Going Off-Script

It should be noted that Michael Weatherly and Mark Harmon have a lot of respect for one another these days. They appeared together on NCIS for over a decade, spanning from 2003 all the way until Michael’s departure in 2016.

However, Weatherly reveals that at the start, the two didn’t hit it off especially given how different their mindsets were. The actor reveals with Hello Magazine, “Mark Harmon and I were on different poles. I was Antarctica, he was the North Pole and we were just looking down there going, ‘What is up with your polarity? What’s going on? The water goes down the drain the other way for me.’”

Weatherly would go on to recall the specific moment things went off the tracks between himself and his co-star.

“And he was confused by my presence right from the get-go. When CNN Showbiz Today or one of those things asked what was the best part about doing the pilot when we were doing the upfronts, I said, ‘I got a rubber gun and I got a fake badge.’”

He continues, “Harmon looked at me like, ‘That is your CNN answer?’ [Laughs.] And I was like a little kid who had one too many bowls of Count Chocula.”

Despite the rough start, Weatherly would get more info on Harmon’s intensity, and learned to understand the actor’s approach. “It’s been very illuminating and given me a great deal of insight and regard for what Mark Harmon was doing all those years. When I was like, ‘How come he doesn’t have as much fun as the rest of us?’”

Although Weatherly understood his approach, he without a doubt was not expecting a certain moment on-camera that took place between the two.

Mark Harmon Slapped Michael Weatherly On Instinct After Their Scene On NCIS Started Going Off Script

It is known as the “Gibbs slap” on the series. Turns out, the slap was completely organic and not part of the script. Credit to Michael Weatherly for staying on script after getting slapped by his co-star – it ultimately made the scene that much better and memorable.

Mark Harmon discussed the motive behind the slap. According to the actor, he took exception to his co-star going off-script himself, and was simply trying to get him back on track.

“We were doing a scene. And [Michael Weatherly] was on a Navy ship and he was talking to a female petty officer. I think this was in year one, early. And he was doing what he does, which is sometimes stay on script and sometimes not. I just reached over and smacked him. I tried to put him back online. It was an instinct. It wasn’t thought, I didn’t think about it, I just did it.”

The improvised scene received positive reviews and at the very least, the relationship between the two actors would morph into a positive one along the way after a rocky start.

Mark Harmon And Michael Weatherly’s Moment Wasn’t The Only Time NCIS Went Off The Script

There were other off script moments on NCIS, and this one in particular had Daniela Ruah in tears during her scene along side Eric Christian. Christian ended up improvising a line during their scene, and it was kept in the show. Ruah recalls the emotional moment, “So Eric improvises the line, ‘This feels like 10 years ago,’ and they left it in the cut because it worked really well but what they didn’t leave was my actual breaking down into tears when he said those words that I didn’t know he was going to say,” Ruah said alongside Hello Magazine.

“It was the weight of the history of our friendship, the history of our partnership, the history of having met my husband and having my children on the show. Eric and those words brought all of those feelings of nostalgia to a tipping point for me at that moment.”

Ultimately, Daniela Ruah was content with the way things played for her character on the show.