During their time together on “NCIS,” Tim McGee (Sean Murray, who thinks his future in the role is uncertain with the Season 22 renewal) and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) go through their share of ups and downs. They start with some hostility between them as DiNozzo frequently makes McGee the punchline of his jokes, but this doesn’t last forever. In time, they become incredibly close friends, leading to some scenes between DiNozzo and McGee that fans love. Simultaneously, Murray and Weatherly struck up a close friendship behind the scenes. In fact, the two even pulled practical jokes on each other from time to time, with one particularly stomach-turning one standing out from the pack.
On “Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch Podcast,” Weatherly recalled pranking Murray by taking Cliff protein bars, forming them into something resembling human waste, and tossing them into the toilet of his co-star’s trailer to surprise him when he went to use the bathroom. Little did Weatherly realize how disgusting Murray’s scheme to get back at him would be. He said of a trip to the bathroom in his trailer around a week later, “There was like a mess, like a hot mess. And I was like, ‘What? Somebody had diarrhea just in my trailer! Like left it didn’t even flush it!'” Murray used Cliff bar chunks, boiled egg yolk, and chili to create a foul-smelling surprise for Weatherly as a form of revenge.
While these pranks are brutal, they were done in good fun. In reality, the two actors have nothing but love for one another.
Despite their pranks, Murray and Weatherly are friends above all else
Though such gross pranks might significantly irritate the victim, there’s no bad blood at all between Michael Weatherly and Sean Murray in the wake of their bathroom battle. In fact, in an incredibly important Season 21 moment, Weatherly returned as DiNozzo for the Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) tribute episode, where he briefly reunited with Murray’s McGee. Murray told TV Insider about the episode, “The Stories We Leave Behind,” and how much it meant to work with Weatherly again.
“He hadn’t been here in 10 years, and as soon as he stepped on the stage as Tony doing his thing, it was like it warped me right back to the old Tony-McGee stuff,” he said, going on to speak on his and Weatherly’s enduring friendship despite the fact that they haven’t been on “NCIS” together in such a long time. “Michael is a lifelong friend. I talk to him all the time. Actually, most of the people that have come through the show I’m very, very close with. But Michael is the guy I’ve been extremely close with,” Murray shared, adding that he and Weatherly talk on a monthly basis and that their continued connection made their Season 21 reunion all the more special.
With new “NCIS” prequels and spin-offs on the horizon, we’ll have to wait and see if Sean Murray and Michael Weatherly will get the chance to get up to more shenanigans behind the camera as well as in front of it.