7 things you might not know about SEAL Team
SEAL Team is about to wrap up its third season. Here are seven things you might not know about the series.
Millions of viewers tune in each week to watch SEAL Team. The military-based show has gotten positive feedback from veterans and could be on track for a Season 4 renewal. Even with over 60 episodes, the Emmy-nominated series undoubtedly still has a few surprises up its sleeve.
Here a few you might not know about, some of which could have changed the course of the show.
David Boreanaz originally turned down the role of Jason Hayes.
He’d just finished 12 seasons of Bones and wasn’t looking for another series. Fortunately, when he was asked a second time, he accepted. Can you imagine SEAL Team without him?
Jason Hayes is based upon a real-life Tier 1 operator.
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Mark Owen, an alias for this Tier 1 operator, went on 13 deployments, including the mission to assassinate Osama Bin Laden. Owen wrote two books about his time in the service and deployments and brought the idea for SEAL Team to CBS.
David Boreanaz wears Mark Owen’s helmet.
Though he could wear a lighter prop helmet, Boreanaz chooses to wear the actual helmet Owens wore while on deployment. Boreanaz says that as long as the series runs, he’ll wear the helmet.
"“I wear his helmet. I could wear a lighter [prop] helmet, but I decided to wear his actual helmet to honor him and I will do that throughout the whole series of its run.”"
Cerberus is played by an actual narcotics detection dog.
Dita, who is a three-year-old Belgian Malinois, was originally trained to be a part of a search and rescue team, but she was later switched to narcotics detection. On the series, narcotics odors replace explosives odors so Dita can find what she needs to find.
Tyler Grey, who portrays Trent, was injured in a Delta Force operation.
Grey was medically discharged from the Army after sustaining injuries from an IED in 2005. The wounds can be seen on his right forearm. Grey now also serves as the military adviser for SEAL Team.
A.J. Buckley, who portrays muscular Sonny Quinn, once weighed 140 pounds.
Anyone who has watched CSI: NY might not even realize that A.J. Buckley played the scrawny Adam Ross. After his father died, Buckley packed on weight before finally reaching out to a Hollywood physique expert and getting into shape to play a muscled Navy Seal, which he’d always wanted to play.
Justin Melnick, who portrays Brock, is Dita’s handler and was expecting to work as a stunt man.
Melnick was an Indiana police officer when he showed up to SEAL Team auditions with Dita. He was expecting to play a stunt man but was, instead, cast as a SEAL Team operator. Melnick previously worked as a combat photographer and spent three months embedded in Afghanistan. He didn’t have any lines of dialogue for the first four episodes, which gave him time to watch other actors.
On the series, Brock is Cerberus’ handler, and that is true-to-life as Melnick is the one who trained her to be part of the search and rescue team then to track narcotics. Dita remains a member of the Daleville Police Department as its Youth Resource Officer.
Call it kismet or fate, but sometimes, things just fall into place. That’s certainly what has happened with SEAL Team as with all the proper stars aligned, the drama’s edge-of-the-seat action just keeps getting better.
Do you think SEAL Team would have been vastly different without a certain character like Sonny or Jason? What have you learned? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
SEAL Team airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on CBS