NCIS Star Sean Murray on Michael Weatherly’s Exit and What’s Next for McGee

Even though NCIS is a procedural show, what makes it so special and has helped make it the most-watched drama worldwide is the personal interactions of the characters. None of which is better than the bromance between Special Agent Timothy McGee, played by Sean Murray, and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly.

Sadly, with Weatherly’s exit from the series in two more episodes, that will soon come to an end, and Murray, who spoke to Parade.com in an exclusive interview, shared his thoughts on working with Weatherly.

WATCH: Exclusive Clip of Michael Weatherly’s Final Scenes on NCIS

“The relationship between McGee and Tony is something that, for us, has always been special, something we found early on, and we worked on over the years,” Murray said. “We have a very similar sense of humor, and we know each other’s timing. We know how to play off of each other, and a lot of scary ad libbing and working loosely off the script sometimes encourages some of that banter, some of those stranger moments between Tony and McGee. That’s a dynamic that I personally love, and I know a lot of the fans do as well.”

On tonight’s episode, the NCIS team, along with the FBI and MI6, continue an international manhunt for the escaped British spy who has left FBI Agent Fornell (Joe Spano) fighting for his  life after having been shot in Gibbs’ [Mark Harmon] house last week. And they are joined in the manhunt by FBI Special Agent Tess Monroe (Sarah Clarke) and MI6 Officer Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry), who have the potential to become series regulars.

“We don’t know whether they’re permanent additions or not,” Murray says. “It may work out that they’re not. They may just be recurring, but as far as changes to the show, we’ve had changes in front of the camera and, obviously, behind the cameras, and change is always scary at first, and people are resistant to change just naturally.”

Here is more of what Murray had to say about what is ahead for McGee and NCIS:

Last week, we saw into McGee’s childhood more than we have before, which was very interesting and very personal. I didn’t realize his father was an admiral.

It was an important one for me as far as getting into the person. As far as McGee’s past and where he comes from and his family, we’ve touched upon that sort of over the years, and that’s always been something for me that has been wonderful and also something I can draw from in real life, because I grew up with parents in the military, as well.

Most of the show is about solving cases, but as an actor, playing the personal moments, that has to be special.

It is. The first time I read that script, it brought up emotions, personal things. I had memories coming back, just flooding back from my own life, my youth, growing up on bases, being a military brat. So it was something I could personally identify with. Some of that has come from real life. You know how it goes. Over time, the lines blur sometimes. A little of you comes into the character.

I like seeing the personal side of some of these characters, although, naturally, I think the group together is what it’s about. Over the course of 13 years, we’ve explored these little branches of different things, and it’s pretty incredible. Actually, as an actor, it’s really been amazing.

So it seems like when changes are made, for example Kate (Sasha Alexander) and then Ziva (Cote de Pablo) … I think when Ziva shot Ari, that people accepted her, and I think when Bishop got cheated on, that’s what it took for fans to really get behind her. So is it hard for the show to add new characters and have them be accepted?

As a show, NCIS has changed a number of times along the way, and there have been some scary ones. We basically see the possibility of new dynamics. It’s just like when Emily [Wickersham] came on as Bishop. She’s a completely different character than Ziva. So that sparked a whole different set of circumstances and new dynamics, and a character to explore, and characters exploring each other, and getting to know each other more personally as it goes on.

So McGee and Delilah are looking for a new apartment. Does that mean that there’s going to be marriage and maybe kids in their future? Is she the one? 

The state of McGee and Delilah’s relationship is great. I love playing that stuff. I love that storyline. Margo Harshman, who plays Delilah, is fantastic. I couldn’t have a more wonderful person to work with. She’s just the best, and personality wise, it’s like she’s family.

She could’ve been there from the beginning, and even Harmon said to me, McGee’s the only character on the show that’s in a good relationship. Everyone else has got pretty screwed up relationships, but McGee has found his thing. I have my own story there as far as that progression with Delilah and the relationship, but I’m hoping we see a lot more of that.

The episode we had recently where we showed a lot of McGee and Delilah at home together, in which, throughout the night, he’s becoming obsessed trying to figure out a case — them at-home was a good amount of that episode. I had a blast playing that stuff. That was wonderful because it’s just really nice to do that when you get to do that, because, obviously, we have the stuff that we’re used to. We have our regular sets. We’re in the squad room. We’re in Abby’s lab, different places in the building.

But McGee’s place, we’ve seen maybe half a dozen times over the years scattered, and yeah, it was cool to just have this episode where we got to see him in a different setting, and we got a little more insight into their dynamic, which I think,  is one where Delilah probably wears the pants. And you know what? I think that’s what McGee needs and wants. I hope we explore more of that, and I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t.

NCIS airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.