Jamie Lee Curtis appears in NCIS for a small but notable role that has some echoes of a previous film of hers with an NCIS regular cast member.

Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis appears in NCIS for a small but notable role. NCIS is one of the longest-running TV shows of all time and is a classic of procedural TV. Following the special agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, NCIS depicts a fictional group of law enforcement agents who investigate and prosecute criminal activities involving the US Navy and Marines. NCIS first premiered in 2003, and throughout its 20 seasons, dozens of guest actors have appeared for small arcs and scenes.

Jamie Lee Curtis has been acting in television and movies since 1977, first appearing in an episode of the medical mystery Quincy, M.E. Only a year later, Curtis would be cast in John Carpenter’s Halloween and immediately become one of the premiere final girls in horror history. Her career was off to a hot start, and roles in Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda, Freaky Friday, and Knives Out followed. In 2022, she won a long overdue Academy Award for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Between all these roles, she found time for guest spots on TV shows like NCIS.

Jamie Lee Curtis Played Dr. Samantha Ryan On NCIS

Jamie Lee Curtis appears in season 9 of NCIS, first in episode 16, “Psyche Out”. Curtis plays Dr. Samantha Ryan, the head of the Department of Defense’s PsyOps Division, and appears to go back a long time with some of the other NCIS characters. While Samantha is happy to help Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his team, she also is not above some covert operations to keep herself in the loop. She even bugs Gibb’s home to stay abreast of a murder investigation the agents are not giving her the full story on. But Samantha and Gibbs develop a rapport during her stay on the show.

At first, Samantha doesn’t necessarily trust the Special Agent in Charge, but she eventually decides that he “makes people feel safe.” She appears in four more episodes in season 9, all the while getting closer to Gibbs. However, her final appearance in season 9, episode 24 “Till Death Do Us Part”, sees her violent ex-husband released from jail, forcing Samantha to flee with her young son. It was a short character arc, but it gave an important romantic storyline to Gibbs’ character and Curtis’ smart, cheeky acting gives a nice contrast to the more gruff Gibbs.

Curtis Reunited With Her Freaky Friday Co-Star Mark Harmon For NCIS

NCIS was not the first time Curtis and Harmon had acted together. In Freaky Friday, Curtis plays Tess Coleman, the mother (and also a psychologist), and Harmon plays Tess’ fiancé, Ryan, and the pair once again had excellent chemistry. When Harmon announced his retirement from NCIS in 2021, Curtis took to Instagram to congratulate her friend. In her post, she had nothing but good things to say about Harmon and her time on NCIS, fondly recalling her favorite line with him, “Practice makes perfect,” an apt line for either of these talented and prolific actors.