The NCIS Season 21 Scene That Made Brian Dietzen Break Down In Tears

The loss of David McCallum, who passed away at 90 in 2023, has affected those who loved and worked with him, including Brian Dietzen, who plays Jimmy Palmer on "NCIS." The actor told TV Insider that filming one scene during McCallum's — and Ducky Mallard's — tribute episode, "The Stories We Leave Behind," caused him to break down crying.

It's an understandable reaction since Jimmy is the one who finds out that Ducky passed away first-hand. "The cold open scene where Jimmy comes in and finds Ducky [who has died in his sleep], man, I was just a bucket of tears," the actor admitted. And Dietzen knew what was coming; he co-wrote the episode with Scott Williams. During the writing process, he wanted one specific moment to appear in the clips during a mid-episode montage. "I said, there's going to be that the last clip that I want to play, and I think it's the most fitting — is from the episode written by Steven Binder called 'Face The Strange,'" he said. The scene sees Ducky cope with the changing environs of the NCIS office after Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham) depart. Ducky declares that the loss of Gibbs is an endurable pain if it means Gibbs will find peace of mind. Dietzen says the clip feels like McCallum self-eulogizing.

Of course, Dietzen isn't the only mourner. He mentioned everyone traded memories of McCallum while on set. But he also expressed a special feeling of kinship with the late actor.

The strong emotions that hit Brian Dietzen while he filmed Ducky's farewell episode stem from his strong relationship with David McCallum. "It gets me choked up because I'm thinking of David and how parallel David and Ducky are and how parallel our relationships were — Jimmy and Ducky, myself and David — in certain ways. It definitely got to me." 

While Dietzen's acting makes the outing one of Jimmy Palmer's best episodes ever, if not the ultimate one, his concern doesn't seem to be focused on awards season glory or making his character look better. Dietzen hopes that folks who never got to act with McCallum  — but loved him very much — are moved after watching the episode. "In the midst of this, we went out for his memorial service at the beginning of January in New York and talked to his family about this episode. I really hope they love it."

While fans will always mourn Ducky, he lives on in Jimmy's scientific mind — and in the hearts of everyone who had the joy and privilege of watching David McCallum ply his trade on "NCIS." 

Check out the untold truth of "NCIS" to read more about the long-running procedural.