NCIS creator originally wanted Fast & Furious star to play Callen

NCIS: Los Angeles may be over, but we will always have the chemistry between Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell) to look back on. These two were the heart and soul of the show, and a big reason it ran for a staggering fourteen seasons on CBS.

O’Donnell was the perfect guy to play Callen, and he was so good at it that Callen managed to surprise his tenure as DC superhero Robin and become his signature character. He also picked up a star on the Television Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. All this despite being the second choice!

Who was considered for Callen on NCIS: Los Angeles?

When NCIS: Los Angeles was being developed, creator Shane Brennan envisioned G. Callen as a CIA operative, and the first actor actor that came to mind was Paul Walker. The actor was already world famous for playing a cop in the Fast & Furious franchise, so it may have seemed like a bold choice, but Fast & Furious was at a commercial and critical low back in 2009, so the concept of Walker pivoting to television was not out of the question.

Daily Express doesn’t have too many details beyond the discovery that Walker was considered, so it’s unclear if the actor turned the role down or if Brennan and the NCIS: Los Angeles team decided to go in a different direction. Either way, things worked out for the best. Fast & Furious rebounded in a major way with Fast Five (2011), and Walker would go on to lead some of the most successful installments in the franchise, including Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).

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Walker, who appeared opposite O’Donnell in the crime film The Rookies (2005), died in a car crash in 2013. O’Donnell finished his tenure as Callen in May 2023, and he told Movie Guide that he was extremely happy with the way the character was wrapped up.

“I think [executive producer R.] Scott [Gemmill] and [writer] Frank [Military] and the rest of the writers did a great job”, he revealed. “They answered most of the questions Callen and the fans had been in search of, and as usual, they added a few surprises.”

While it’s easy to imagine a world in which the late Walker was excellent as Callen, his place in pop culture was already secured thanks to Fast & Furious. O’Donnell was the right guy to play the role, as evidenced by the show’s success.

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