In 2014, Adam Campbell guest starred in the NCIS Season 12 episode “So It Goes” as Donald “Ducky” Mallard in his younger years. He reprised the character originated by the late David McCallum three more times on that series, then returned to the role earlier this week on NCIS: Origins. I spoke with Campbell on behalf of CinemaBlend prior to “The Edge” premiering on the 2025 TV schedule, and he told me a sweet story about when he met McCallum after first being cast as the younger Ducky.
Much like how Austin Stowell, who plays NCIS: Origins’ Leroy Jethro Gibbs, has spent time with Mark Harmon, Adam Campbell had multiple encounters with David McCallum before the latter passed away in September 2023. This came up when I asked Campbell about if he felt the need to more closely emulate McCallum’s Ducky performance as his version of the character gets older, which led to him recalling:
