{"id":4086,"date":"2025-12-25T15:31:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T15:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=4086"},"modified":"2025-12-25T15:31:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T15:31:34","slug":"jag-star-explains-magical-moment-getting-recast-in-ncis-universe-role-after-season-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=4086","title":{"rendered":"JAG Star Explains \u201cMagical Moment\u201d Getting Recast In NCIS Universe Role After Season 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

JAG<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0star Catherine Bell has opened up about the \u201cmagical moment<\/em>\u201d she had getting recast in her NCIS universe role following season 1 of the series. Bell originally joined the cast of\u00a0JAG\u00a0<\/em>in a guest role as LTJG Diane Schonke, who showed up in season 1, episode 22. However, she was later recast as Sarah \u201cMac\u201d MacKenzie in a starring capacity.<\/p>\n

During Motor City Comic Con\u2019s From The Courtroom To A Magical Enchantress panel, moderated by Joe Deckelmeier for\u00a0ScreenRant<\/em>, Bell explained what it was like to be recast in\u00a0JAG\u00a0<\/em>following her initial guest appearance. The actor spoke about how, despite playing a small role before the series\u2019 initial cancellation at NBC, she was approached by the network to join full-time.<\/p>\n

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This was because of the form of actor they were looking for to star opposite series star David James Elliott following Tracey Needham\u2019s exit from the series. She recalled getting the role after nearly giving up on her career, reminiscing about her husband\u2019s support and the way she ended up getting the role:<\/p>\n

ScreenRant: So you didn\u2019t start off as Mac, you played another character. How did it come about, that shift in characters?<\/p>\n

Catherine Bell: So, it was interesting because I had a couple of scenes [in season 1]. I was in one scene where, really, the only thing was the flashback of me, and Harm happened to be in love with this girl. She was coming, I guess, to see him, or he went to see her as the ship comes in, and instead, I\u2019m dead. I\u2019m in a body bag. I remember when I auditioned for that part, Don Bellisario, at the callback, he said, \u201cI know this seems like you\u2019re dead. She\u2019s a very important character. Harm was in love with her, and she\u2019s pivotal.\u201d So, I was like, \u201cGreat, I\u2019m happy to be on the show!\u201d One of the days we were filming, Don Bellisario, who directed that episode, announced to the crew that the show was being canceled. So it was like, \u201cHey, I have a big announcement. NBC is canceling the show.\u201d Everyone was so disappointed, but he said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, we think that one of the other networks is going to pick it up.\u201d So I was just on set, a guest star, it had really nothing to do with me, I thought. And then that summer, my agents saw that they were recasting that week, and they wanted someone who was at least 5\u20199\u2033, because David [James Elliott] is 6\u20194\u2033. And they wanted someone with dark hair, very specific, because the previous girl was blonde. I think they wanted a brunette, and someone strong and someone equal to Harm, because Tracey Needham was younger and kind of a soft, whispery blonde type. So, they wanted someone who could stand up to him with equal range, go head to head, which was really what I think made these characters work. And they wanted someone who could speak other languages. I speak Farsi, I do martial arts. I\u2019m like, \u201cThis is me, sure.\u201d I actually wrote Don Bellisario a letter, and I said, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be interesting if Harm\u2019s new partner looked just like the love of his life?\u201d I went in for the audition. I went in for a callback, I went in for another callback. I had six callbacks. It went from like callback with producers to the network, and the final callback was with David in front of the head of CBS, the head of Paramount, Don, all these people in the theater at CBS. [Chuckles] It was a pretty magical moment. Don actually told me this years later that Les Moonves, at the end of my audition, I walked out of the room and Les leaned over to Don and said, \u201cLet\u2019s make her a star.\u201d<\/p>\n

ScreenRant: Is that how you find out you got the role?<\/p>\n

Catherine Bell: No, I got a call. The night before I found out I got that role, I was crying at my dining table, looking at the stack of bills with my husband. I was like, \u201cI can\u2019t do this anymore. Borrowing money from my mom to pay the rent, you know, struggling actor life.\u201d And he\u2019s like, \u201cNo, you\u2019re so close. We almost got this.\u201d He was so supportive. And literally, the next morning, I got the call, Don called me, and he said, \u201cI got your note, I\u2019m really glad you wrote that note, because it reminded me of you. Nobody writes notes anymore.\u201d It was a handwritten letter, I dropped it in the mail. He said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about making her look like the other girl, but we\u2019ll see about that.\u201d And he ended up taking my suggestion, and of course, you guys have seen it, he has that flashback scene.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bell starred on the series beginning with season 2, with Mac becoming a close friend of Elliott\u2019s Harmon Rabb over the course of the show. She went on to appear in the series until its finale during season 10. While she hasn\u2019t\u00a0returned to the\u00a0NCIS\u00a0<\/em>franchise\u00a0that much, she has made two appearances in\u00a0NCIS: Los Angeles<\/em>, one of which was alongside Elliott.<\/p>\n

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\"David<\/picture>Credit: MovieStillsDB<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Bell\u2019s story emphasizes how she almost didn\u2019t end up becoming much more than an extra on the show, especially after its fate was originally in jeopardy. However, CBS swooping in and saving the series, coupled with her becoming a regular cast member, made the show the foundation for\u00a0every season of\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>that came after it wrapped up.<\/p>\n

It also catapulted Bell\u2019s career upward, as she snagged her first long-term TV role in the process. She\u2019s gone on to have a multitude of recurring roles in various TV shows, while also starring in many TV movies as well. Her other long-term TV role was in the Lifetime drama\u00a0Army Wives<\/em>, which ran until season 7.<\/p>\n

As far as\u00a0JAG\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>goes, though, it\u2019s clear from Bell\u2019s story that the show saved her career, showcasing just how much her talent in the series made her a perfect addition to the show. Her role has made her an important part of the franchise\u2019s history, paving the way for the multifaceted series it became, and will continue to evolve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JAG\u00a0star Catherine Bell has opened up about the \u201cmagical moment\u201d she had getting recast in her NCIS universe role following season 1 of the series. Bell originally… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4086","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\/4086","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=4086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4088,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4086\/revisions\/4088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}