'NCIS' Adds Gary Cole & Katrina Law, Mark Harmon Scales Back Season 19

Gary Cole, Katrina Law Photos courtesy of Gersh & Envoy, The Riker Brothers

CBS’ venerable drama series NCIS is adding two new series regular cast members for the upcoming 19th season, Gary Cole and Katrina Law.

Cole will play a new character, FBI Special Agent Alden Park. Law plays Special Agent Jessica Knight. She was introduced in the last two episodes of Season 18 as a recurring guest star with an option to become a series regular if the show got renewed, which it did. Knight is a formidable REACT (Regional Enforcement Action Capabilities Training Team) agent who specializes in hostage negotiations and handles daily high-risk operations with skill and precision. Sharp, athletic and tough, she is fiercely tenacious and with a wry sense of humor.

Details about Cole’s character, Special Agent Park, are not being released. He is not replacing Mark Harmon‘s Special Agent Gibbs though Cole is expected to help fill the void left by Harmon’s reduced on-screen presence next season. The number of episodes Harmon will be doing in Season 19 has not been revealed; they are believed to be just a handful.

“We take it year by year with Mark, we’d love to have him as long as he’d like to be here,” CBS President Kelly Kahl told Deadline last month. “Even in this past season, he might have been light in a couple of [episodes], so we’re happy to work around his schedule.”

Law’s promotion follows the recent exit of longtime series regular Emily Wickersham. She and Cole are joining NCIS as broadcast’s most watched scripted series is preparing to leave its Tuesday 8 PM slot for the first time to relocate to Monday in the fall.

“We haven’t shot a single frame quite yet, but with the addition of Gary Cole and Katrina Law to the cast, this is already shaping up to be one of the best seasons yet,” NCIS executive producer/showrunner Steven D. Binder said. “Going into season 19, we are excited to have new characters and stories to tell that adds to and reenergizes the world we’ve come to love over the 400+ episodes.”

Returning cast members include Harmon, Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover, Rocky Carroll and David McCallum. NCIS is produced by Bellisarius Productions in association with CBS Studios. Executive producing alongside Binder and Harmon are Chas. Floyd Johnson, Mark Horowitz, Scott Williams, David North and Donald P. Bellisario.

Cole was most recently a series regular on the ABC comedy series Mixed-ish, which ran for two seasons. Prior to that, he co-starred on HBO’s Emmy-winning comedy Veep, for which he has received an Emmy nomination. He also can be seen recurring opposite Christine Baranski on Paramount+’s The Good Fight. Cole is repped by Gersh and Envoy Entertainment.

Law just wrapped the Hallmark movie A Family Through Christmas, in which she plays the lead. She was recently seen as Quinn Lue on Hawaii Five-O. Her previous credits also include The Oath and the CW’s Arrow. Law was a series regular on CBS’ Training Day and played Mira in Starz’s series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Vengeance. She’s repped by David Lederman at Innovative Artists and Joel Stevens Entertainment.