After Michael Weatherly’s exit at the end of season 13 of the popular CBS procedural NCIS, the show has announced who will be replacing him. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wilmer Valderrama will be a new agent on the show. He will be a series regular for the 14th season.
Valderrama will play an agent who took an undercover assignment years before and fell out of contact with people, making fellow agents wonder if he’d survived or if he’s still doing the same assignment.
“Wilmer Valderrama will be able to flex his dramatic, physical and comedic talents in this classic NCIS role. Fans are going to see him like they’ve never seen him before. This is going to be fun. We’re thrilled he’s coming aboard,” Gary Glasberg, the executive producer of NCIS, said on Thursday when the news was announced.
Valderrama is fresh off a recurring stint on Grey’s Anatomy, where he played Kyle Diaz, a musician suffering from multiple sclerosis. He falls for his doctor, Stephanie Edwards, but she breaks it off with him when she realizes she isn’t able to separate her feelings for him when he comes to the hospital. And, in a move that’s reminiscent of the season two finale with Izzie and Denny, Valderrama’s character died as Amelia wasn’t able to stop the tremors in his hand.
Valderrama was supposed to star in military drama Four Stars for CBS, but it didn’t getting picked up by the network. He is most known for his role as Fez on Fox’s comedy That 70s Show. He held the role for the show’s entire run, which lasted from 1998 until 2006. He was also a cast member of Minority Report, Awake and is the voice of Manny in Handy Manny.
While fans still may be sad about Weatherly’s exit from the show after 13 seasons, they can still be happy that Mark Harmon will be a part of the show, as NCIS was renewed for seasons 14 and 15 back in February and Harmon’s new contract lasts for the same amount of time.
NCIS remains to be the most watched broadcast show. The show, combined with CBS airing the Superbowl, helped the network be the number one network once again.
A premiere date for the 14th season of NCIS has yet to be announced, but the show will have the leadoff Tuesday night timeslot of 8 p.m. when the show does return.