The worlds of NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS: Origins are set to collide when a young Dwayne Pride visits California — and fans won’t want to miss it.
“Pride is such a beloved character and specific,” Shea Buckner exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, March 16, of stepping into the role of a younger Pride on NCIS: Origins after Scott Bakula originated the character on NCIS: New Orleans.
Buckner, 39, reminded Us that Pride — who is also known as King — has “charm and charisma and he’s got an accent and he’s got gravitas, and he’s a leader and there’s so much to him.”
“To take it all on, it was daunting, to say the least,” Bucker confessed. “And it wasn’t lost on me how important he is.”
During the upcoming Tuesday, March 17, episode — titled “Feelin’ Alright?” — NIS Panama agents, including Pride, are called to assist on a case connected to a possible international smuggling ring.
When Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) comes face-to-face with Pride, it becomes apparent they are not instant friends, as fans of NCIS and the spinoff New Orleans might remember. In fact, CBS teased that Gibbs considers Pride an “old nemesis” until they are forced to go undercover together.
“You’re going to see what is the beginning of a very fruitful relationship and formed in a not very typical way,” Buckner teased of Pride and Gibbs’ dynamic on the episode.
The actor revealed that while Gibbs is very much aware of who Pride is when he sees him on the scene, Pride plays it cool and pretends they’ve never met.
Although Gibbs will have a hard time letting go of their shared past — which includes someone getting into a bar fight — Bucker told Us Pride has a different approach.
“I do know who he is, but I also think that we have a dead body sitting in front of us, and we have a job to do and I’m not gonna let my ego or past grudges get in the way when we’re in front of a team,” Buckner explained. “I’m not gonna let that vendetta fully creep in. I’m gonna smile at them, you know, and layer on the charm, and then get down to business and try not to let the past creep in until it comes out.”
Bucker hinted that going undercover might be just the thing that both Pride and Gibbs need to get over their feud and become the close friends fans see later in the NCIS universe. (Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, later helms the Washington, D.C. office for NCIS, while Pride is the head of the New Orleans headquarters.)
“We leave with a mutual respect and trust saying, ‘Hey, we got this done in a way, and I can rely on you,’ and that’s more important than anything else,” Buckner shared.
He added, “What we’ll see develop and grow throughout the episode, I hope, is that trust and the formation of the brotherhood. We are two strong opposing forces. But there’s that respect and trust.”
Fans of NCIS: New Orleans, which ran from 2014 to 2021, will also get a taste of Pride’s mannerisms and his iconic traits throughout the episode.
“He’s always eating, or he’s commenting on food, talking about food, and it’s a big part of his life. With the New Orleans culture, food is such a part of what it is,” Buckner told Us, confirming he tried his best to show off Pride’s love of food and music by playing the piano as well.
NCIS: Origins airs on CBS Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
