Jennifer Beals has officially joined the “NCIS” universe.
The film and television veteran now stars alongside LL COOL J and Scott Caan in the new spinoff “NCIS: New York,” airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS, where she plays Robyn Wells, the team’s supervisor in the New York field office. So what sold him on the role?
“I got a call from (showrunner) Byron Balasco, who I had worked with before,” Beals told TVLine, “and he told me a little bit about the character and how he wanted to make him a different type of leader.” Plus, “about seven minutes into the call, he told me I’d have a dog in the office, and that was a huge selling point,” she adds with a laugh. “I think that might have tipped him over the edge.” (More on the prized dog later.)
Beals “didn’t really know” the “NCIS” franchise “at all” before signing on to play Robyn, she admits, but “Byron said he wanted to do something very different… He wanted to make it a little more character-driven and building relationships. And I feel like we’re doing that, and definitely making New York a real character.”
The NCIS: New York ensemble is “a really dynamic team”
In “NCIS: New York,” Robyn leads a team of special agents, including LL COOL J’s Sam Hanna (of “NCIS: Los Angeles” fame), and while we haven’t seen much of her backstory on the show yet, Jennifer Beals explains “she’s a lawyer. She was at the SDNY (Southern District of New York) and she left the SDNY.” Beals notes that Robyn “really supports her team, but will draw the line when it needs to be drawn.” Plus, she “has a sense of humor, which I really appreciate.” Robyn “has a ton of respect for Sam, and it’s amazing that she was able to bring him on the team, and she respects Addy and Wyatt… Everyone has their own superpower, sort of, and that makes a really dynamic team.”
However, of the whole group, Scott Caan’s Nick is “the closest thing to friendship” for Robyn, Beals says. “Her relationship with Nick is the longest” and “if there was anyone on this team she would confide something to, it’s probably Nick.” Beals also points out that Robyn wears a wedding ring, so “you know she’s married and you find out later what her husband looks like and what that marriage looks like.” She even teases that “we’ll see how her husband’s ambitions might diverge from hers.” We don’t yet know what Robyn’s husband does for a living…but “you will,” she hints.
Beals gushes about his canine co-star
But Jennifer Beals’ biggest selling point might be sharing scenes with Robyn’s dog Sid, played by a Labrador/Staffordshire/pitbull terrier mix named Dunkin. “Oh my God, I love Dunkin’,” Beals gushes. “In my dressing room, I have a whole bunch of little gifts. Every time he comes on set, I give him something new. His owner told me there are two places he’s really happy to go. One is the beach and the other is the studio.”
Dunkin is also “so amazing in the scenes,” Beals proudly notes. “I had a scene with Nick the other day, and Nick is talking to him, and Dunkin’ is looking at him so perfectly… He’s really photogenic and super smart.” Beals even got to choose the dog herself, she reveals: “They sent a bunch of videos of different dogs, and they were all so cute and beautiful and smart… But he had so much character. And I loved that he was older, because it spoke to their relationship, how long they’d known each other. She’d had him for a while.”
How are you liking Robyn – and her dog Sid – so far on “NCIS: New York”? Let us know what you think in a comment below!
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