Why Phil Newcastle From NCIS Season 20, Episode 5 Looks So Familiar
The 5th episode of "NCIS" Season 20 is here, and it certainly brought a lot of chaos to Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll). The whole episode revolves around Vance, as he initially had his house broken into by masked assailants who seemed to be looking for something. Vance fought them off with his bare hands and was nearly shot. Despite his life being in possible danger, Vance still heads to Berlin for a conference along with Alden Parker (Gary Cole) as protection. There, they meet Lena Paulsen (Marem Hassler), a German intelligence agent with a particularly close relationship with Vance. She is put in critical condition after the same group of people broke into her hotel room looking for something just like at the beginning of the episode.
By the end, the Major Case Response team and fans discover that the burglaries involved diamonds recovered from an old NCIS operation that Paulsen was part of. They find this out through another ex-NCIS agent named Phil Newcastle. Newcastle seemed surprised when he remembered that diamonds were involved, noting that they were just sitting in an old coffee can, but had to be worth about $3 million. Ultimately, it is revealed that the lead culprit, Sergei Umarov (Ian Fisher) was really after Heidi (Charley Rowan McCain), the daughter he abandoned and Lena had adopted as her own. The diamonds Newcastle mentioned were kept in a trust for her.
The character proved to be a critical asset in the case, and if you think the actor playing Newcastle looks familiar, we can't blame you, as Oscar Best has starred in a number of other notable projects.
His first credit was in 1987's Angel Heart
Oscar Best has been in the entertainment industry for some time, and his first acting credit came from the 1987 psychological horror movie, "Angel Heart" (via IMDb). The film follows Mickey Rourke's P.I. Harry Angel as he is hired by Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) to track down a man named John Liebling, known by his stage name of Johnny Favorite. Ultimately, in a brutal chain of events, Harry discovers that he has been manipulated by Cyphre, who — if the name wasn't a big enough clue — is actually Lucifer himself. Best plays a voodoo dancer that can be seen during the movie, slowly indicating Rourke's descent into discovering the truth.
"Angel Heart" performed very well amongst audiences and critics alike, earning fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it allegedly sparked a major feud between Rourke and De Niro that has lasted ever since (via Express U.K.), and Rourke even took to his Instagram in recent years to call De Niro a "crybaby" (via TVLine). Despite this feud, Best didn't appear in another project until years later during the mid-2000s.
Best portrayed a doctor in The Last Face
Another project you may have seen Best have a supporting role in would be 2016's "The Last Face," again starring two powerhouse lead actors in Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem. The film is also directed by Sean Penn, and it follows Miguel Leon (Bardem) and Wren (Theron) as they are both volunteers helping in struggling sections of West Africa. The pair fall in love but struggle as Miguel had a previous relationship with Wren's cousin.
Oscar Best plays Dr. Brown, a native doctor of West Africa and another member of "Doctors of the World," the organization that both Wren and Miguel are also a part of. This was a bigger role for Best and he appears as a supporting character throughout most of the film alongside Theron and Bardem. It was likely an important role for Best to be part of such a film.
Unfortunately, "The Last Face" was very much disapproved by both fans and critics (via Rotten Tomatoes), and would only make just over $1 million (via Box Office Mojo). However, that didn't stop Best, as he would continue to get smaller roles in projects moving forward, including in an additional episode of "NCIS: Los Angeles" that you may have seen him in before playing Phil Newcastle on "NCIS."
He appeared in an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles
Before Oscar Best became Phil Newcastle in Season 20 of "NCIS," he appeared during a 2018 episode of "NCIS: Los Angeles." It was the 18th episode of Season 9, titled "Vendetta." The episode follows the team, specifically G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell) and Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) as an international weapons dealer comes back to the United States after being overseas for some time. Best appears briefly as an elderly security guard during the episode, but this role had the possibility of creating the connections that would lead Best to have the larger role of Phil Newcastle on "NCIS."
Like with other series such as "Law & Order: SVU," having a supporting role on "NCIS" in any capacity can mean great things for an actor. Some of today's biggest stars had roles on the series that gave them experience, including "Top Gun: Maverick" actor Glen Powell and none other than "Stranger Things" actress Millie Bobby Brown. Hopefully for Best, the same will be said about him.
"NCIS" Season 20, Episode 6 premieres Monday, October 24, at 9/8c on CBS.