Adam Campbell is opening up about the words David McCallum had for playing the role of Ducky on NCIS!
Taking on the role once played by a beloved actor can be daunting. Even if it’s for a younger version of said character, there’s a lot of baggage and work putting your own spin on the part. Adam Campbell felt that when he first debuted in NCIS season 12 as the younger version of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard.
Ducky, of course, had become one of the best characters on NCIS since its debut in 2004. The wry British medical examiner who had a seemingly never-ending fount of knowledge to talk someone’s ear off was played by veteran actor David McCallum to endear himself to fans. He played the role all the way until his death in 2023, with the show paying tribute to him as Ducky also passed away.
Speaking on the NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast, Adam Campbell discussed being cast in the role and not being a big fan of the show, binged a few episodes before arriving on set.
“I immediately felt intimidated. I felt, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a really good character. I really don’t want to mess it up,'” Campbell shared. “I was aware that I would be under scrutiny, so, I was a little daunted, to say the least.”
Campbell told hosts Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover that McCallum himself called Campbell up to suggest meeting over lunch. “I was a little bit scared because I knew how precious the character was,” Campbell admitted. However, the pair “talked about the character, and I felt brilliant after that.”
“First, to have him on board with it. Maybe it’s weird for somebody else to play a younger version of yourself. I didn’t know how he would react to me, and he couldn’t have been nicer. We talked a little bit about the character and maybe how to do it, how not to do it. One thing he said: ‘Don’t try and do an impression of me.’ Which was a really helpful thing to do because I was going to do an impression.”
Campbell was an instant winner in the role, with fans raving about how perfectly he channeled McCallum while still putting a youthful spin on the part. The actor credited McCallum further, noting how he’d said, “Ducky does like to find the humor in things. Don’t be afraid to find an odd, quirky take on a situation, which I found quite helpful.” That included such Ducky traits as kindness, humor, and finding the quirky side of any situation.
Campbell has appeared in five episodes of the main NCIS series, most recently as Ducky’s ghost aiding Vance (Rocky Carroll) as he crosses into the afterlife after his death. He’s also appeared on NCIS: Origins, showing the early partnership of Ducky and Gibbs (Austin Stowell). However, Campbell confessed he was honestly expecting to be recast for the role.
“I thought realistically, if you’re gonna recast it, this would be the time to do it. I obviously was really hoping that I would do it, but I fully understood that it might be an opportunity to find a different actor to play and you know maybe bring something different to it. So, I was really relieved when I got a phone call to say, ‘Would you come and do it again?’ It felt like a massive vote of confidence, and I was very excited to do it because I love playing that role. I was genuinely relieved to get that call.”
Campbell added he “got a series of lovely text messages” from Mark Harmon, which also boosted his confidence in the performance. It’s little wonder it was such a great role as Campbell more than did McCallum, to let Ducky’s legacy live on for a long time to come in the NCIS universe.
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