Chris O'Donnell on the lasting power of "NCIS: Los Angeles" and its season finale
Chris O'Donnell just hoped he would make it through one season of "NCIS: Los Angeles," but more than 200 episodes later, the actor is ready to close out Season 9 with co-star LL Cool J. He talked to CBSN about their friendship and offered some hints as to what will happen on the season finale.
He said of the show's longevity, "It's shocking. I remember the first time I met LL, the first time we did our first table read -- we did a joint read. We were on with 'NCIS,' the original cast, and I saw Mark [Harmon], Michael [Weatherly] and all those guys and I saw how familiar they were with each other, and I'm looking at the cast from our show thinking, 'Am I going to be that close with these people I'm meeting for the first time?' And yeah, I'm watching that clip right there and I miss those guys. We've been off for three weeks and that's kind of my adopted family."
In particular, the actor said co-star LL Cool J is "kind of like another brother." He continued, "Honestly, we are as close as I've ever been in any working relationship and there's a certain level of trust and confidence that we have." He said that LL Cool J can even imitate O'Donnell's family members, whom he's never met, just from hearing about them.
O'Donnell revealed that the two-part Season 9 finale will be action-packed.
"We have to go on a rescue mission south of the border," he said. The actor teased: "One of the main characters gets shot. There's a lot going on."
O'Donnell said he's happy to work in the midst of what he calls "the golden age of TV."
He said, "They're just not making as many films. The majority of the work is in television."
But the actor revisited his film career in the "Batman" movies, during which he played Robin to George Clooney's Bruce Wayne.
"I run into [Clooney] at awards shows -- it's kind of like our class reunion," he said.
Watch the full interview to see what O'Donnell has to say about the future of "NCIS: Los Angeles" and why he thought "Batman Forever" was better than "Batman & Robin."
"NCIS: Los Angeles" airs on Sundays at 9/8c on CBS and CBS All Access.