Why Emily Wickersham’s Ellie Bishop Left NCIS

Actors all have different goals in their careers, and because they typically can’t cast themselves they don’t have a whole lot of say as to how or if those goals are met. Ultimately, whether they have a preference for theater, film or television doesn’t really matter if their goal is to remain employed as an actor. You take the best gig that’s offered, and hope that it leads to more offers.

If steady work is the goal, you can do no better than getting cast as a series regular in a long-running network television show. Be it a drama or a sitcom, these series boast seasons that run up to 24 episodes. They pay remarkably well, and they leave you the option to work while you’re on break or simply rest up until the next season gets started. Either way, unless you’re a total spendthrift, you’re pulling down more than enough per year to live comfortably for the rest of your life.

But as with any job, doing the same thing year in and year out can become a grind. For an actor, playing the same character on a network show doesn’t often allow you to stretch those performance muscles; loyal viewers tune in weekly to see a specific formula followed to a T, which means every character, with very few exceptions, serves the plot in the same way in every episode. This can get old after a while, which is why some actors walk away from a cushy gig on a high-rated series. Is this why Emily Wickersham left CBS’ procedural warhorse “NCIS” after eight successful seasons?

When Wickersham joined “NCIS” in 2013 at the outset of season 11, She was replacement of Paulwho wasn’t happy with the direction of her character, Special Agent Ziva David, after nine seasons on the show. Wickersham fit right in with the ensemble as Special Agent Ellie Bishop, and became a fan favorite until she left the series at the end of season 18 in 2021.

Unlike de Pablo, Wickersham wasn’t displeased with the portrayal of Ellie. As she explained on the podcast “Off-Duty: An NCIS Rewatch,” “I was ready to leave the show. It was time and I was ready to move on to something else, and I guess this was the something else I was meant to move on to. So it was good.”

That “something else” she’s referring to is becoming pregnant with her first child (with her now-husband James Badge Dale), though she did not know she was with child until a month after departing “NCIS.” As for her time on the show, she had this to say on her Instagram:

“This cast, this crew, are top notch. I can’t say enough kind words about this group that I’ve had the pleasure of working with for close to 8 years now and 172 episodes later. This business is finicky and weird and consistency is a rarity. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a show where I got to show up and act and laugh and learn with wonderful people. A moment in time I surely won’t forget. Thank you CBS and ‘NCIS’ for including me in a part of television history.”

Wickersham has not returned to acting since becoming a mother, but maybe that itch will return at a certain point. If not, she was fortunate to have a great run on “NCIS” (which was itself a spinoff of “i”).