{"id":3728,"date":"2025-10-24T18:26:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3728"},"modified":"2025-10-24T18:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:26:16","slug":"im-not-the-big-dog-mark-harmons-surprising-confession-about-his-role-on-ncis-long-before-the-pauley-perrette-feud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3728","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m Not the Big Dog\u201d: Mark Harmon\u2019s Surprising Confession About His Role on \u2018NCIS\u2019 \u2013 Long Before the Pauley Perrette Feud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before\u00a0NCIS<\/em> ever made headlines for behind-the-scenes drama, Mark Harmon was already setting the tone for what real leadership looked like. Despite playing the unshakable Leroy Jethro Gibbs \u2013 the heart and soul of the show \u2013 Harmon never viewed himself as the dominant force everyone assumed he was.<\/p>\n

In an old interview with the\u00a0Seattle Times<\/em>, Harmon humbly admitted,<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the big dog. \u2026 I might be a dog. But there\u2019s a lot of dogs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That modesty became part of the show\u2019s secret sauce. Even as\u00a0NCIS<\/em> soared to the top of TV ratings, Harmon always gave credit to the entire cast and crew, not himself. \u201cWe\u2019ve been successful so far and we keep finding ways to grow it,\u201d he said, reflecting on the show\u2019s unlikely rise to fame.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He even joked about the early days, saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to keep it afloat a couple of years because we weren\u2019t good enough to get all the attention and we weren\u2019t bad enough to get canceled. \u2026 And the biggest thing: We shoot in Santa Clarita. Nobody from the network wanted to drive out there!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Through years of cast changes and challenges \u2013 including Pauley Perrette\u2019s controversial exit \u2013 Harmon\u2019s calm, grounded leadership helped\u00a0NCIS<\/em> stay strong. He never needed to be the \u201cbig dog\u201d to keep the pack together.<\/p>\n

Mark Harmon\u2019s Bold Call That Led to a Lifetime with Pam Dawber<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harmon\u2019s humility extends beyond Hollywood \u2013 it\u2019s part of his love story too. When he first met actress Pam Dawber, he skipped the Hollywood games and simply called her out of the blue.<\/p>\n

As he told\u00a0PEOPLE<\/em>,<\/p>\n

\u201cI got her number, called, and started to leave a message saying, \u2018We don\u2019t have to all go out \u2013 we could just get a cup of coffee or something.\u2019 Then she picked up. We went out that night, and we\u2019ve been together ever since.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A year later, on March 21, 1987, the two married and built a quiet, enduring life together. Decades later, Dawber joined Harmon onscreen in 2021 for a special guest role on\u00a0NCIS<\/em> \u2013 a full-circle moment for one of TV\u2019s most grounded stars.<\/p>\n

Harmon\u2019s humility, both on set and off, remains the quiet force behind his lasting success \u2013 and the reason fans still see him as the real heart of\u00a0NCIS<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before\u00a0NCIS ever made headlines for behind-the-scenes drama, Mark Harmon was already setting the tone for what real leadership looked like. Despite playing the unshakable Leroy Jethro Gibbs… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3730,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions\/3730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}