Jennifer Aniston's Name Was 'Floated' To Play This Tragic NCIS Character
In a show with longevity like "NCIS," there are bound to be plenty of "What ifs" throughout its history. During an oral history retrospective on the show with The Hollywood Reporter, people affiliated with the procedural revealed that if the winds of fate blew a little differently, "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston might have played Caitlin "Kate" Todd, who ended up being portrayed by Sasha Alexander.
Executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson explained the arduous process of even getting Alexander onboard. "Sasha Alexander wasn't in the two-episode pilot," Johnson said. "It was an actress by the name of Robyn Lively [who is Blake Lively's older half-sister]. They liked her, but they didn't think she quite worked. And so when the series got picked up, CBS said, 'We'd rather move on.' And then we went in search of a character, and Sasha came in at the last minute."
However, seeing as "Friends" was ending around the same time, Johnson admits they thought about Aniston for the role: "I think Jennifer Aniston was available at the time, and her name was floated." Casting director Susan Bluestein revealed that Aniston's involvement didn't extend much beyond her name being in a conversation. "I don't remember ever offering it to Jennifer Aniston," Bluestein said. "Jennifer Aniston could very well have been a name that we discussed."
Had the role gone to Aniston, it very well could've changed the entire trajectory of the series.
Would Jennifer Aniston have quit as early as Sasha Alexander?
Jennifer Aniston certainly wasn't hurting for work in the aftermath of "Friends." She proceeded to star in predominantly comedies, such as "Rumor Has It," "The Break-Up," and "He's Just Not That Into You." Signing up for another TV series may have prevented her from starring in such movies, but if she had been cast, it could've completely changed Kate Todd's fate.
Despite being part of "NCIS" from the beginning and becoming an integral part of the team, Kate Todd was killed off in Season 2 by being shot in the head. It was a shocking moment for fans who had come to really like the character, and the real reason for Kate's death comes down to Sasha Alexander not enjoying the "NCIS" work environment. Show creator Don Bellisario admitted in a 2005 interview that Alexander had approached him to say that she couldn't do the long shifts any longer, so they killed off her character.
If Aniston had been cast instead, there's a chance Kate Todd would've become a long-running cast member, assuming the "Friends" star wanted to stick around. After all, Aniston would've gone from sitcom star to serious procedural actor, and in the event she wanted to do movies, she could've quit around the same time if the scheduling had prevented her from pursuing other projects she was interested in. In a 2012 interview with TV Guide, Alexander mentioned how she doesn't regret her decision to leave at all, so in the end, it sounds like the casting surrounding Kate Todd worked out for everyone.