NCIS and 9-1-1 fans unite! Chris O’Donnell is getting ready to take on his next role as a fire captain in the upcoming ABC 9-1-1 spin-off, 9-1-1: Nashville. He is the first cast member to be announced. To celebrate this, we have discovered everything you need to know about O’Donnell and the crime procedural below! Chris O’Donnell move from ‘NCIS’ to ‘9-1-1 Nashville’
In 9-1-1: Nashville, O’Donnell will play Captain Don Sharpe, “a rugged fire captain and rodeo rider who runs Nashville’s busiest firehouse with his beloved son. Don’s a devoted husband and family man, but he has his secrets,” reads Variety’s announcement. This casting decision comes after the actor left his role as Special Agent G. Callen in NCIS: Los Angeles, which he worked on from 2009 until 2023. “The 14-year thing, we say it, it doesn’t seem real because it feels like we just started this and saying goodbye, it’s emotional,” O’Donnell said at the time of his departure. “It was an amazing run. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity and the success and the fans tuning in and for the friends that I made along the way.”
‘9-1-1’ moves from Austin to Nashville: 9-1-1: Nashville was announced in February 2025 after the cancellation of the Austin, Texas-based spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, which starred Rob Lowe and ran for five seasons. “[The production team] really felt like Nashville was the right place to have the next one after Austin,” Bob Rains, executive director of the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, told the Nashville Tennessean in February. “We’ve been extremely supportive with them in conversations and working with our partners at the Visitors and Convention Corp. and the mayor’s office. We are all very excited, very supportive, and happy to see the series has been picked up by ABC.” As of publication, there is no news on when 9-1-1: Nashville will premiere on ABC, what nights it will air, how many episodes there will be or who else will join the cast.
9-1-1: Nashville’s predecessor, 9-1-1, is in its eighth season, airing every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. It stars Angela Bassett and Peter Krause, and there has been no word on whether there will be a season 9. A look at Chris O’Donnell’s acting career: from ‘Batman’ to ‘NCIS’. Before joining the world of police procedurals, O’Donnell made quite a name for himself in the film world, starring in iconic movies like Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Scent of a Woman (1992), The Three Musketeers (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997) and Vertical Limit (2000). He also played Dr. Finn “McVet” Dandridge—one of Dr. Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) many love interests —in the popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy over the course of 6 episodes in seasons 2 and 3 in 2006. “It was always supposed to be an in-and-out thing,” O’Donnell revealed. “They kept asking me to stay for some more episodes. At a certain point, they wanted me to stay even longer, but having been in the business long enough, I knew it was never going to be my show. I was going to be so far down the totem pole.
Absolutely! With its compelling characters, heart-stopping action, and a fresh Southern backdrop, this spinoff has all the makings of a hit. And with Chris O’Donnell leading the charge, it’s bound to attract both longtime NCIS fans and first responder drama enthusiasts alike. Will ‘9-1-1: Nashville’ live up to the franchise’s reputation? We’ll have to wait and see, but all signs point to a must-watch show!
