Michael Weatherly finds satisfaction playing a trial consultant in a new TV series, writes Loong Wai Ting
FOR the past 13 years, actor Michael Weatherly has entertained us with his quick-witted and comical character Agent Tony DiNozzo in the CBS police procedural series NCIS, currently in its 13th season.
The announcement of his departure from the series comes as a no-surprise since Cote de Pablo, who plays Ziva, has also left (in Season 11). With the departure of Pablo as well as the charming relationship between Ziva and DiNozzo, Weatherly, 48, feels that it’s time to move on, professionally.
“Around Season 11, I started to make some discoveries about what was going on, the internal mechanism of NCIS, the team, the dynamics and the interplay of the characters. It was clear to me that it was time to graduate from DiNozzo,” says the New Yorker.
As hardcore fans of NCIS prepare for his departure from the well-loved series, Weatherly admits that bidding farewell to the character that has been a part of him all these years isn’t easy.
“It’s a great family up there,” he says of NCIS, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, recently, where he is promoting his new show, Bull.
“Life is an impermanent thing. We don’t like changes but it has to happen and I have never feared it. I knew for a couple of years that I would be leaving. I was able to take the time and tell everyone how much I appreciated them. I felt that I communicated clearly to everyone how much I appreciated the experience and it was really satisfying,” he says.
As Weatherly hangs his badges, he is preparing for another thrilling adventure, this time around as Dr Jason Bull, a successful trial consultant. If Bull rings a bell to many, that’s because the series is actually based on Dr Phil McGraw, who ran his own trial consulting firm before his success led him to host his own talk show.
THE STORY
Brilliant, brash and charming, Bull is the ultimate puppet master who combines psychology, human intuition and high tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused, tick.
He employs an enviable team of experts at Trial Analysis Corporation to shape successful narratives down to the very last detail. They include his quick-witted brother-in-law, Benny Colon (played by Freddy Rodriguez) who plays defence attorney in mock trials, Marissa Morgan (Geneva Carr), a cutting-edge neuro-linguistics expert from the Department of Homeland Security and former NYPD detective Danny James (Jaime Lee Kirchner), the firm’s tough but relatable investigator.
On the other hand, haughty millennial hacker Cable McCrory (Annabelle Attanasio) is responsible for gathering cyber intelligence while Chunk Palmer (Chris Jackson), a fashion-conscious stylist and former All-American lineman who fine tunes clients’ appearances for trial. In high stakes trials, Bull’s combination of remarkable insight into human nature, three PhDs and a top-notch staff, create winning strategies that tip the scales of justice in his clients’ favour.
FUN-FILLED SHOW
From the preview, Bull seems like a fun-filled series with well-timed smart talk and brilliant tactics to help even the most despicable suspects and defendants score some ground among the juries during a trial.
Weatherly seems like the perfect candidate suited to play Dr Bull; he still carries that same humour and aura within him as when he played DiNozzo.
From the preview, here’s what to expect: Dr Bull is introduced to a spoiled rich kid, who walks into his office with a smug on his face. He’s been accused of killing someone, accidentally or otherwise. Bull and his team quickly go through a rigorous process of selecting a list of jurors, pin-pointing the ones that will be on their side and design an entire defence team that will get the jurors to see the accused party differently. All this while, Bull appears cool, controlled and confident as he leads his team in the defence makeover.
PREPARATION
For his role, Weatherly met the real Dr Phil. At their first meeting, he couldn’t help but feel nervous in the presence of the master himself.
“You become very self-conscious around somebody who is an expert in human behaviour... self-proclaimed or otherwise. There is some degree of intimidation there because Phil is a physically-imposing guy. He locks eyes on you like a barracuda and he listens in a funny way. After a while you start to hear what you are saying and then you start to question what you are saying and you think ‘I shouldn’t have said that’. But by then, Phil has already learnt about the degree of confidence you have. He’s a fascinating guy,” says Weatherly, chuckling.
He also claims that he gets help from the script itself. “It’s always in the script... that’s your source. The first time I read the script I was immediately drawn into it. Sometimes you have to put yourself in the audience’s shoes and you feel yourself wanting certain things from the story. I want Bull to be someone whom you can relate to, a flawed character who is more human,” he explains.
Given that Weatherly is finally settling comfortably in his new role, will Bull or DiNozzo consider making a special appearance on NCIS someday?
“I think it’s a fascinating idea. Here’s what I think: Bull needs help and he contacts a friend who happens to know another friend who used to be a federal agent but is now retired and does some private investigation job on his own. That’s when DiNozzo comes to Bull. The moment Bull meets DiNozzo, he dislikes him right away and wants to run him through the algorithm and find out everything about him,” he says, half-jokingly.
On a serious note, Weatherly says it’s hard to go back to playing DiNozzo now that he’s playing the new character. “I don’t think I could go back to a DiNozzo thing now because I’m on my Bull ride. There was no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube. That, and a musical episode starring Bull are the two things you will never see,” he adds, with a laugh.
Bull airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on RTL CBS Entertainment HD (HyppTV Channel 616), beginning Sept 21.