- BY LESLIE CARDÉ | Special to The Advocate
- SEP 19, 2016 – 9:00 AM
The team of “NCIS: New Orleans” has blown back into town for the premiere of its third season Tuesday (Sept. 20), and with it come fresh new crime mysteries and even a new cast member.
Filmed entirely in and around New Orleans, the CBS drama is the last network series with a full-time shooting schedule in the city.
That schedule lasts 10 months a year. The cast, which had lives elsewhere before the show began, is a mix of commuters and new New Orleanians who have relocated. For series star Scott Bakula, his itinerary gives new meaning to the term long-distance relationship.
“I go back to Los Angeles pretty much every weekend,” said Bakula, taking a break between scenes on the Harahan set on a recent day. “My son’s in high school there, and my wife has a crazy, busy work schedule there. So if I want to see them, I’m on a plane.”
Along with Bakula, a five-time Emmy nominee, the cast has a boatload of talent.
C.C.H. Pounder has been nominated four times for an Emmy, and Juilliard-trained Shalita Grant has been nominated for a Tony Award. The cast is rounded out by Alabaman Lucas Black, a Screen Actors Guild Award nominee for his performance in the motion picture “Sling Blade,” Daryl Mitchell, who was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and Rob Kerkovich, who plays forensic scientist Sebastian Lund.
Zoe McLellan is not back for a third season, thanks to a script that had her in an inappropriate affair last season with no room for redemption. But FBI special agent Tammy Gregorio, played by former “CSI: NY” star Vanessa Ferlito, will join the NCIS team.
The cast is an eclectic mix. A New York and Los Angeles transplant, Shalita Grant sees New Orleans as an environment in which to absorb a different culture, and a place where there’s space, literally and figuratively.
“I have a huge backyard … something I’d never be able to get in NYC,” said Grant.
“And every guest star who comes in from L.A. says we’re the best set they’ve ever worked on, free from the politics of Hollywood.”
For Kerkovich, whose wife had a baby six months before he landed the job on “NCIS,” staying in Los Angeles was never an option. They packed up bags and baby and hit the I-10 east.
“Compared to Los Angeles, the time I spend in a car is minimal. I can’t believe that everything is 15 minutes away,” he said. “I’m essentially teleporting everywhere.”
Playing a forensic scientist isn’t too much of a stretch for Kerkovich.
“I love to watch things like the Juno satellite entering Jupiter’s orbit, or binge-watch every BBC nature documentary. If I rolled a 20-sided die for nerdiness, I’d probably get a 17.”
For Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, who hales from Sugar Hill, Georgia, his wheelchair-bound character is also a part of his real life.
“In 2001, I had a motorcycle accident. Most of that disaster is a blur, but I woke up in a hospital, paralyzed from the chest down. Yes, I’m injured, but I’m still a human being, and I feel very loved on this set. Luke Black and I enjoy hanging out in this special city, and with my kids now 17, 19, and 21, they’re self sufficient.”
Favorite haunts of the crew?
“I send visitors to Preservation Hall,” said Bakula. “That place touches on the beginning of the world down here.”
Mitchell loves Marcello’s on St. Charles Avenue.
“And they let me come in the kitchen,” he said.
“On the thrift side, for me it’s a juicy ‘Company Burger,’ ” said Kerkovich. “For a splurge, N7 in the Bywater.”
“Everything is a splurge on my diet,” said Grant, “but I love sitting outside at Green Goddess in the Quarter.”
Everyone agrees shooting in the heat and humidity is oppressive.
“But we’re breezing into October soon,” said Bakula, “and it’s clear sailing from here.”
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