With 20 years, you're bound to forget a few "NCIS" guest stars. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for well-known actors who have guest starred on the original “NCIS” - both before and after they became famous.
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00:00 "I don't know what happened."
00:00 "Don't look at me like that."
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for well-known actors who have
00:10 guest starred on the original NCIS, both before and after they became famous.
00:16 "I want the name, Beavis."
00:17 "Well, we don't like, know him."
00:21 "Yeah, meaning we don't exactly know his name."
00:24 Number 10. Colin Hanks.
00:28 In Season 10, Ziva kills former Mossad agent Ilan Bodnar to avenge her father.
00:34 In the fallout, the DoD sends Inspector Parsons to investigate the team.
00:39 Parsons is played by none other than Colin Hanks.
00:42 "Relax, Director, I'm just here to cross some T's and dot some I's.
00:45 I'll be as quick and painless as possible."
00:47 Introduced with his typical boyish charm, Hanks quickly brings a surprising amount of intensity.
00:53 We learn that Parsons isn't the pencil pusher he appears to be,
00:56 and is actually after Gibbs.
00:58 "Don't act too surprised. Or did I not give you enough time to prepare?"
01:03 "You got something to say? Say 'em."
01:09 In a three-episode arc bleeding into Season 11,
01:12 the pair go from enemies to respected allies.
01:15 Hanks's portrayal of the multi-faceted Inspector will always be a memorable one for NCIS fans.
01:22 "You gotta keep in mind, I know my way around DC politics, but this is different.
01:26 The players are different."
01:28 Number 9. Corey Stoll.
01:30 "The woman looks too tonic, she drinks a vodka tonic.
01:35 Two bald men sit with her, waiting for a fourth."
01:39 Character actor Corey Stoll has really come into his own in the last 10 years.
01:43 He's played a bent congressman on House of Cards,
01:46 a Marvel villain in Ant-Man, and a nice guy billionaire on Billions.
01:51 But before all of that, he was a hard-working actor getting small roles when he could.
01:56 One of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it parts was that of international arms dealer Martin Quinn on NCIS.
02:02 "Martin, where's he been keeping you?"
02:04 "The African market. Cape Town, mostly."
02:06 Appearing in three episodes of Season 4,
02:09 Stoll played the ally of the season's main baddie, Rene Benoit.
02:13 Unfortunately, there isn't much more to say about Stoll's stint on NCIS besides,
02:18 "Whoa, was that Corey Stoll?"
02:19 "Anything out there?"
02:21 "You kidding? Canadians are in bed by nine."
02:24 Number 8. Lily Tomlin
02:26 "Thought I knew everything about you. I thought I could trust you."
02:29 "You can."
02:31 Though she only appeared in a single episode,
02:34 it's hard to beat the inimitable Lily Tomlin.
02:37 Starting out as a stand-up comedian,
02:39 Lily Tomlin has been a fixture of the stage and screen since the 1960s.
02:44 On NCIS, a naval whistleblower is killed,
02:47 and the team is shocked to discover his accomplice is McGee's grandmother, Penny.
02:51 "You don't want to talk to me, fine. But Gibbs is gonna have questions,
02:54 and he's not gonna be nice about it, trust me."
02:55 "I think you forget that I stayed to sit in with Gloria Steinem at our nation's capital
03:00 and spent seven nights in prison, or jail, really, after the Selma riots in '65."
03:05 Lily Tomlin brings her typical comic panache to Penny in spades.
03:09 Despite being known for her comedy, Tomlin's performance is also quite touching.
03:13 Penny's interactions with McGee are some of his best character moments in the history of the show.
03:18 "He'll always love you for that."
03:19 "You've never told me this before."
03:25 "That's the truth."
03:27 Number seven, Eric Stone Street.
03:29 "I've been in the private security business for three years. Doesn't pay very well.
03:34 Does NCIS take applications?"
03:37 In the season before his debut as Uncle Cam in 'Modern Family,'
03:41 Eric Stone Street played a killer on NCIS. In Season 6's Christmas episode,
03:47 Gibbs and the NCIS team receive the gift of a double homicide. During their investigation,
03:53 they're accosted by Uncle Cam Mall Cop, that is to say, a doofy security guard named Harvey.
03:59 "What are you guys doing here?"
04:00 "They asked for our help."
04:01 "Well, they didn't tell us."
04:03 As it turns out, Harvey wants a little Christmas bonus,
04:06 and kills a couple during a botched home invasion. When the NCIS crew finally catches
04:10 up with him, our beloved Harvey tazes McGee. Despite only having minutes of screen time,
04:16 Eric Stone Street delivers his usual comic gold.
04:19 "So maybe I could, uh, you know, well, good luck with the case."
04:24 Number six, Jamie Lee Curtis.
04:27 Fans of NCIS know that Gibbs is famous for both his rules and his many lady friends.
04:32 One of the more interesting entries on the list is Dr. Samantha Ryan, played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
04:38 "Don't you ever knock?"
04:40 "You called me."
04:40 "Well, what if I wasn't disposed?"
04:43 "That would be even better."
04:46 "Town boy."
04:46 In NCIS Season 9, Curtis has a recurring role as the head of DOD Psy Ops.
04:52 She spends most of her time poking around the NCIS team's minds.
04:56 "Brain gamer, Ryan."
04:57 "That's head brain gamer to you? I oversee all military information support operations."
05:04 Off screen, Curtis and Harmon had a friendship that dated back to 2003's
05:08 Freaky Friday. Dr. Ryan and Gibbs spend five episodes playing mind games with one another.
05:14 At one point, she even bugs his house. While their relationship had mixed reactions from fans,
05:19 both actors remember her time on the show fondly.
05:23 "Sectav will know where I am."
05:24 "This isn't the answer."
05:36 Number 5 - Sterling K. Brown
05:39 "We need to be ready when he calls."
05:40 "I have friends standing by to help trace the callback."
05:42 "Right. His apartment's been cleaned out. He's running."
05:45 NCIS is a show where the audience can expect twists and turns.
05:50 Still, an episode starting off with a killer clown may be a bit of a shock.
05:54 More shocking, the clown is played by Emmy and Golden Globe winner Sterling K. Brown.
05:59 Three years before breaking out in This Is Us, Brown was a journeyman actor.
06:03 In the Season 11 episode "Devil's Triad," he murders a U.S. Marine.
06:08 Later, he kidnaps Diane and Fornell's daughter.
06:10 "Wait here. When I'm clear, I'll call you with Emily's location."
06:14 "That was the deal."
06:18 Brown's intensity and evocative eyes tend to get him cast as hyper-intelligent men.
06:23 NCIS is no different, despite his character Elijah getting caught thanks to a teenager's
06:29 pink kiddie watch. "Watch your mouth. I'd hate to get suspended."
06:33 "And Agent Gibbs already has enough paperwork." "I should have never let her go."
06:36 "I'm sorry, Gibbs."
06:39 Number 4. Abigail Breslin.
06:41 "I hear lots of things other kids can't. Can I help you?"
06:47 Abigail Breslin has been a familiar face to audiences for most of her life.
06:51 She got her first big role in the movie Signs before her sixth birthday.
06:55 Not long after, she had a powerful guest spot on the Season 2 premiere of NCIS.
07:00 "He didn't know it, but I heard him. He told my mom. He...
07:09 He's going to make my dad suffer."
07:15 Breslin plays Sandy Watson, the blind piano prodigy and daughter of a Navy captain.
07:21 Right at the start of the episode, she and her mom are kidnapped for ransom.
07:25 Sandy is rescued and uses her incredible hearing to help the team save her mother.
07:30 Breslin puts forward an emotionally charged performance, tugging at your heartstrings.
07:35 Even as a little girl, she stands among the best actors to ever star on the show.
07:39 "Thanks, Special Agent Watson, here. We couldn't have done without her."
07:44 Number 3. Billy Dee Williams.
07:46 "Ewo? Monford Point Marine?"
07:51 "Well, truth be told, I wanted to be a Marine because of that
07:54 snazzy blue dress uniform with those red stripes."
07:58 In the episode "The Namesake," Gibbs and DiNozzo trace a murder weapon to a nearby pawn shop.
08:03 There, Gibbs is stunned to see a World War II-era Medal of Honor.
08:07 After all, selling a Medal of Honor is a crime.
08:10 Even more stunning, the recipient was his father's best friend, Leroy Jethro Moore.
08:15 "Well, it meant a lot to me when I finally got it. But I had no family to share it with,
08:21 and over the years it was just collecting dust on a shelf."
08:24 The producers wanted someone with gravitas for the part, so they cast Billy Dee Williams,
08:29 and he definitely brought his characteristic charm and pathos to the role.
08:33 Since Moore and Gibbs Sr. had a falling out years earlier,
08:36 Gibbs gets the two men to bury the hatchet in between solving crimes.
08:40 "I got a son who's a federal agent. Sticks his nose in other people's business.
08:45 He's very persuasive."
08:47 Williams returned in the Season 11 finale for Gibbs' father's funeral.
08:51 Number 2. Zac Efron.
08:53 "I'm thirsty. Can I get you boys something to drink?
08:55 You really should, because interrogation makes you a little dehydrated."
09:00 Like others on this list, Zac Efron spent his childhood booking bit parts in movies and TV.
09:06 Then High School Musical premiered on January 20, 2006, and catapulted him to stardom.
09:11 Literally three days earlier, Efron guest-starred in Season 3 of NCIS.
09:16 "He's gonna have to call you back. Bye."
09:18 "You're busted."
09:20 For most of the episode, the team searches for a kidnapped naval officer to protect
09:25 nuclear secrets. Soon enough, they stumble across a pair of teens drinking in the woods
09:29 with her stolen phone. Efron is on screen for barely two minutes in a fairly minor role,
09:35 but three days between bit part and international star has to be an NCIS record.
09:40 "Well, I, like, think you're, like, totally, like, lying-like. You wanna know why?
09:46 'Cause you're old."
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10:03 1. Millie Bobby Brown
10:06 "Daddy trained us. We knew what to do if the bad people ever came."
10:10 Not long before becoming Netflix's most famous telepath, Millie Bobby Brown was a terrifying
10:15 NCIS guest star. In Season 12, a 10-year-old Brown plays the daughter of a Navy captain,
10:21 Rachel Barnes. Rachel starts off the episode as a sweet little girl who discovers her mother's
10:26 dead body. She seems traumatized and terrified in the aftermath, but by the episode's end,
10:32 Gibbs learns that sweet little Rachel is a stone-cold killer.
10:36 "I did a little digging under your farm."
10:38 "I didn't have time to bury it deeper. I needed to get back before Mr. Curtis realized I snuck out."
10:49 Even at 10, Millie was an expert at tapping into darkness. It's no wonder the Duffer
10:55 brothers cast her in "Stranger Things." This is one NCIS performance liable to give you nightmares.
11:01 "Daddy didn't understand either when I told him what I did. He'll come around eventually.
11:07 I'm a sweet little girl."
11:12 Are there any other stars who gave Gibbs and his team a run for their money?
11:16 Sound off in the comments below.
11:17 "Sorry. I shoot straight and hope that it'll be tempered by my teddy bear cuteness."
11:21 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
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11:31 [Music]