A military police procedural series, NCIS is the first installment in the NCIS franchise. The series revolves around the lives of special agents who work for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The special agents enforce the law and solve crimes related to the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Based in Washington, D.C., the team of special agents is led by former USMC gunnery sergeant scout sniper and special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
The cast of the series features Mark Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Cote de Pablo, Lauren Holly, Rocky Carroll, Gary Cole, Katrina Law, Diona Reasonover, and Maria Bello.
Lauren Holly featured in the series as NCIS director Jenny Shepard. The actress left the series as she was tired of her role and constantly traveling between Chicago and L.A. for the show.
Why did Lauren Holly leave NCIS?
While Lauren Holly had a calm exit from the series, the actress cited multiple reasons for leaving. Lauren Holly's character Jenny Shepard was also known as Leroy Gibbs's love interest.
The actress left the series as she felt creative boredom and decided she needed to move on after the fifth season. The actress also mentioned the tiring commute between L.A. and Chicago contributed to her decision to depart from the series.
When Holly moved her family to California, she was tired of the role she played. Lauren Holly also expressed feeling a change in the show's dynamics after creator Don Bellisario was forced out of the series.
This led her to miss his influence and get bored of her character. While talking about her exit, the actress stated,
"I loved being back at work, the cast totally embraced me. Sasha was filming her final episodes, and kept wishing me luck. Cote was a three episode tryout to see if she would get the regular gig. Looking back, I wonder if all was not as it appeared...I started commuting between Chicago and L.A, but that was hard, I missed my family!"
She further added,
"I was happy to be a minor character because that meant I could be with them more. When they asked me back for the second season, the decision was made to move my family back to California with me. And so, we were living back in Los Angeles for two years..."
She concluded by stating,
"I enjoyed being on the show, and began some wonderful friendships. I was saddened that Don Bellisario was forced out, and I missed him a lot. To be honest, now that the work bug had bitten me again, I got bored with my part of the "Director". Then the decision was made to kill me, and boy did they. About five different ways!"
How did Lauren Holly's character leave NCIS?
Many characters who have left the series have been killed off. Much like how Kate Todd's character Sasha Alexander was killed off, Lauren Holly's character met the same fate.
The writers decided to kill Jenny Shepard in a gunfight. Shepard wanted to avenge her father's death. In the fourth season, Jenny was chasing Rene. Rene was the man she blamed for her father's death.
While Shepard was tasked with killing a Russian arms dealer's fiancé, she failed to do so. This led to a shootout that gravely injured Jenny. Lauren Holly's character, Jenny Shepard, died after she succumbed to her injuries.
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