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Rocky Carroll did not watch the last episode of the series NCIS Until it aired. But Carroll — who has played NCIS Director Leon Vance on the CBS series since 2008 — didn’t watch the March 24 episode alone. “I was at a Screen Actors Guild screening in New York City with 150 weird people. I was sitting there watching it on screen and my biggest concern, more than anything else, was that [for it not to be] “Boring episode,” he says. Hollywood Reporter. “I watch it just like everyone else and I’m like, ‘Man, that was a really good episode.’
That “damn good episode” was bittersweet for a long time NCIS Fans. A fan favorite who had anchored the series for many years as Carol was killed off – especially after original star Mark Harmon stepped back from the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, known as Gibbs, in NCIS Back in 2019 – it wasn’t just risky; It was very emotional.
Carroll did not know that Director Vance would die when the season 23 of the veteran series began. When he first learned about the fare, he was surprised. But when he thought about Vance dying to save the agency, he saw the brilliance in it.
“As soon as we started shooting, as soon as I read the script, I said, ‘This is actually a really great idea, because for the 500th episode, in 23 years, if you don’t make a move like this now, you might never get the chance. And it’s a really well-written episode,'” he says of the “All Good Things” hour that closed out his 18-year run. NCIS Possession.
In the episode, NCIS is shut down by the Department of Defense and handed over to the Army CID. Although things are tense and uncertain, there’s no indication that Vance or anyone else will lose more than their job. But Vance has been arrested and is being interrogated. As the episode goes on, it feels a little strange, but nothing too alarming. The team solves a case that could save their agency.
Vance, who is reconciling with Supervising Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole), is at the center recapping a series of events to his unnamed investigator (Adhir Kalyan) who explains where some of the team members have gone, as well as detailing Vance’s heroic actions, including defusing a bomb in an NCIS evidence locker and discovering that CID agent Dolan Thompson (Matt Cook) is a dirty agent. Sadly, this discovery costs Vance his life – with Thompson shooting him three times in the chest when Agents Parker and McGee (Sean Murray) arrive too late to save him. Suddenly, it becomes clear to everyone watching that Director Vance is dead.
As Vance takes his final bow, his old friend Ducky appears younger in the form of a stream. NCIS: Origins Star Adam Campbell, who plays that character, leads the way. Before Vance steps out into the white light, there is a montage of the past NCIS Moments pass before we hear the voice of his beloved wife, Jackie (Paula Newsom), who was murdered in Season 6, saying, “Hey, baby,” to welcome him to the other side. After his death, NCIS reopens with Parker coming out of retirement.
Since Vance was only intended to be a recurring role, Carroll feels especially lucky to have played him for so long. “I attended 80% of the episodes,” he says. “Out of the 500 episodes, I attended about 400 of them.” Since 2015, he has also been working behind the screen. “They call me the director director when I direct an episode.”
Hollywood Reporter I caught up with Carroll to discuss his reaction to the backlash caused by Vance’s death, some key details regarding his passing and what his future now holds.
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Were you surprised by the outpouring of love for you and Vance?
I’m very surprised, because when I joined the cast at the end of Season 5, there wasn’t a big love fest. My character was this character that everyone was a little wary of. I was kind of your stepdad whose mother said, “‘This is going to be your new dad,’ and everyone’s like, ‘He’s not my dad.'” That’s how I felt. I felt like I was joining a family, and everyone was looking at me like, “When’s he going to leave?”
When did you start feeling like Vance was part of the family?
It happened organically as the episodes progressed. We could have stuck to the script and written Vance as this perpetual boss from hell who comes in and makes everyone’s lives miserable. but [that changed] over time [as] The actors, and even the writers, realized that [we didn’t have to make] This is a one-dimensional character who is antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic.
Mark Harmon and I had a previous relationship; We have worked together on Chicago Hope And we’re just starting to find the character. They thought about writing this character off 10 years ago. The idea of killing Leon Vance is nothing new. They had been thinking about doing this as a plot twist for years, but because of what was happening on screen, and because of the chemistry between Vance and Gibbs, every time they talked about it as a plot twist, everyone was like, “No, we can’t do that. It’s good now. It’s too established.” As the character and stories develop, and we get to see him outside his office – especially the episode in which director Vance loses his wife, who is tragically murdered – he shares the same tragic experience as the main character, Gibbs. [and] They are associated with tragedy. I think that was the beginning when our die-hard fans were like, “He’s one of us now, he’s part of NCIS family.”
Was it normal for Vance to wear a jacket?
no! I used to always joke [that] Vance probably doesn’t know where his gun is now. If there’s an emergency, he’ll have to go through all the drawers in his office, because he’ll be like, “Where the hell did I put that? I haven’t used it in a while.” So no, that’s why it actually made sense. When you see the scene you say, “Thank God he’s wearing a jacket.” And it’s like, “Why would a bureaucrat who sits in his office where you have to go through such a security chain to even knock on his door, sit in his office with a jacket on?” So he’s not wearing a jacket. To his eyes, he thought he was wearing a jacket.
It was very hard to believe that Vance was dead. It was shocking!
This is exactly what the goal was. After 23 years and 500 episodes, the executives, producers and writers could have easily done so [an] An episode with a whole bunch of flashbacks and flashbacks about scenes that happened in the past, and maybe featuring some surprise guest stars, and the audience would be like, “Oh, that was cute.” We could have easily gone that route. Your personal response is: “My character is being killed off. I will not be in the final scene on the final day of the final season of the series.” NCIS. I’m not going to be there when they close the windows and say, “Okay, that’s it.” “Everyone goes home.”
But the one thing I have that other characters probably won’t understand is that my character had a very specific ending. Real close. A friend called me and said, “A lot of people may forget what happened to Gibbs in his last scene, but no one will forget what happened to Director Vance in his last episode.”
Usually when you get to the end of the string like NCISwhich is in season 23, who knows how long it will last. In that final episode, where you’re trying to tie up all the loose ends and put a button on everyone’s story, someone’s going to get left out. The audience will watch and go, “Okay, what happened to so-and-so? What happened to Agent Knight? What happened to Agent Knight?” [Katrina Law]? What happened to Torres? [Wilmer Valderrama]? I know I’ll be the only character, no matter how the series ends, that people will remember what happened.
Vance would certainly shoot the most shocking death. It was a great send-off and you’re right, many characters never get that recognition. Then there were persistent complaints that black characters often didn’t get a proper sendoff on TV shows.
What I’m most proud of is that I knew all of these things were there when I started playing the character. Because Mark Harmon and I had a great working relationship, we didn’t have to put a banner on it. Suddenly, this is one of the most popular series in the world, and the main character has a boss who is a person of color. Every time we were on screen together, you didn’t have to say, “There’s a black bureaucrat and a white agent.” You will look [at the show] Through whatever lens you are developing it. If you are a person in whom you are a religion The makeup of race is important, as this is the lens through which you will look. And I’m fine with that. So we didn’t have to write towards it [because] People will see that. And people who say, “I don’t see color,” it’s like, “It’s okay for me to see color because that’s what it is.”
When Wilmer Valderrama joined the cast NCISThe first thing he said to me was, “I remember when I joined the show, and I thought, ‘Wow, he broke the color barrier. You were the Jackie Robinson of this series, because you were the first person of color as a character [main character] Series regular.” And now you look at the racial and ethnic landscape NCIS [and] It’s so amazing. We have come a long way.
I always auditioned for roles that I knew were not traditionally written for a black man or a person of color. And the roles I’m most proud of are the ones that I know the executives and producers said we never looked at in that capacity. But it worked, and I feel like this has been my calling card for the last 30 years.
I started directing for the first time NCIS In 2015. How did it happen? Did you know you wanted mentoring?
I didn’t know I wanted to direct. Everyone around me said I should do it. I’ve been on the show for about eight seasons. This was before coronavirus, so it was like a college campus. We had visitors on set all day. People brought their dogs. People were visiting family. It was a tour every day. My manager, my agents and all the people associated with me were always saying: “Look at the relationship you have with the actors, the way you get along with the crew, you will make a great director.”
So, every year, when it came time to renegotiate a contract, my actors would ask, “Should we take over; do you want to direct?” I said to myself, “No. Stop pressuring me with that thing.” Finally, I said, “You know what? In order to nip this in the bud, I’m going to go to the executive producer’s office and tell them I’m interested in directing. They’re going to give me 30 reasons why it can’t be done, and then we can put this thing into action.”
I walked into the producer’s office and said, “I’m interested if it would be possible for me to direct episodes of the series one day.” NCISAnd the executive producer looked at me and said, “How about eight weeks from today?” It was like they were waiting for me to come and ask.
You’ve directed a few episodes this season.
I shot “Gone Girls” and “Her,” the episode with Eleanor Bishop that just aired [March 3]the first new episode in 2026, directed by. I didn’t direct the episode where Vance lost his life – because I was a little busy on that episode. But I directed three episodes this season. I told everyone that it never felt like it to me because when we shot All Good Things where Vance lost his life, a month later, I came back and directed another episode of the series. NCIS Which has not been broadcast yet. But that’s how it happened, and honestly, I walked in, asked if I could direct, and the rest is history.
What does life do next? NCIS look like?
This is a good question. I think it will look like life before NCISwith more money in the bank. It’s like Charles Barkley said: “I’ve never worked a day in my adult life.” My last job was 25; I am 62 now. I haven’t worked most of my adult life. So there is life after that NCIS. The nice thing about what we do too is that being 62 as an actor is not like being 62 as a professional baseball player. I can still do what I do as long as I keep at it [my] Memory accessory. Maybe I can do this for another 25 years. So it’s beautiful; The scene is kind of wide open.
Mark Harmon wrote to me: “You’re a director, you’re an actor. The field is wide open. You can choose to do this, or, because you’ve had 18 straight years of work and you’re not stupid with your money, you can choose to do nothing for about a year. Or you can be a black Anthony Bourdain and travel the world and eat and drink.” This is actually my dream job. …. Honestly, I’m in no rush to return to a series where I work 12 hours a day on set. If someone paid me to travel the world and immerse myself in their culture, eat and drink and then produce for CNN, something like Stanley Tucci, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Do you have any favorite episodes?
When you have a 392 under your belt, it’s hard to choose a favorite. That flashback in the last scene when Vance was about to go to the other side and walk into the light, we shot a video, kind of in retrospect. Just excerpts from all those scenes, and this was the first time I watched the episode. That was the only time I felt choked up while watching the movie as an audience member, because I realized, “Wow, look at all the years, all the time, all the people.” That’s how I remember my time NCIS. Like a series of just little moments.
Will you still watch the show? How do you think the show will handle Vance’s departure?
Oh, that remains to be seen. I won’t just keep watching the show; I will still be a part of it. I’ve been asked to come back and direct for the next season, even though my character died. But we also coined the term “ghost stars.” We have more characters who were killed coming back as apparitions and spirits. We reminisce about the past, where people died a long time ago, which is very important. So I wouldn’t be surprised [if] Vance may be more dead than he was when he was alive.
Interesting.
I thought I’d bring that up a little bit.
NCIS It airs Tuesday nights at 8pm ET/PT and streams on Paramount+.
