NCIS' Sean Murray Has No Faith In McGee In A Real-Life Interrogation
It's no secret that today's cast of "NCIS" vastly differs from when the series started. Many characters have come and gone from the hit procedural series. However, one familiar face that's managed to stick around since the first season is special agent Timothy McGee, played by Sean Murray. When McGee first appeared, the tech whiz of the team had more of a rookie vibe about him, which usually resulted in him being picked on by his other team members, like Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly). McGee was noticeably not as experienced nor grizzled as the rest of the "NCIS" team back in earlier seasons, which might be why Murray once had little faith his character would survive a real-life interrogation.
During a clip from a 2009 episode of TV Guide's "InFANity," the show went behind the scenes of "NCIS." And when asked who he thought which "NCIS" character would buckle under interrogation, Murray answered with his own. "I'd probably say McGee," Murray says in the clip. "I think he would go down." Murray may have been correct about McGee in the show's earlier seasons. But considering that McGee has been promoted to the team's second in command, maybe Murray has more confidence in him now. Besides, the NCIS special agent has been involved in his share of gutsy interrogations over the years.
McGee has played the bad cop routine
The current version of Timothy McGee is a far cry from his counterpart in earlier seasons. Not only has the character received tons of training during his run, but he's also been through many challenging moments that have likely toughened him up as an agent. And we've at least learned when he's doing the interrogating in later seasons, he seems pretty skilled. In the Season 14 Episode, "Philly," McGee transforms into a "bad cop" when he gets rough with a suspect by violently wrenching their arm on a table. With a pained yell, the suspect says he'll give up the information, which McGee coldly instructs him to write it down with his good arm.
The moment is an excellent example of McGee showing that's he at least capable of dishing it out. But it also marks the character's growth from his introduction in Season 1. Early on, Sean Murray thought evolving was necessary for the character. While speaking with Hello Magazine, Murray noted that he insisted to the show's writers that he didn't want his character to remain the same season after season. "I remember talking to the writers early on about this, like, I don't want to be baby Maggie Simpson," Murray told Hello Magazine. "I don't want to be the same character every single week and never grow. And they were very into the growth of the character." The show's writers clearly granted Murray's wishes, which should also mean that currently, McGee would likely break others in interrogations instead of being broken.