Adam Campbell nearly made big 'NCIS' mistake, then senior actor offered key advice

Adam Campbell was set to play younger Donald “Ducky” Mallard in NCIS, a show on CBS.

But before stepping into the role, the star was nervous.

This was because Donald "Ducky" Mallard had been portrayed by David McCallum on the show.

So, playing a younger version of the character already essayed by a veteran actor had become a source of nervousness for Campbell.

Despite the pressure, the actor prepared for the fan-favorite NCIS medical examiner role.

His idea was to follow McCallum's approach to playing Donald "Ducky" Mallard and do an impression of him when portraying his character's younger self.

However, the NCIS legend warned him not to do this when he personally reached out to him.

"One thing he said was, 'Don't try to do an impression of me.' Which was really helpful because I was going to do an impression of him,” Campbell told the NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast.

The Epic Movie star, who was previously worried about playing the role, said he became calm after a discussion with McCallum.

“I was aware that I would be under scrutiny. So I was a little daunted, to say the least,” he shared.

Then a call from McCallum arrived.

"When I got it, a couple of days later, David phoned me. I don't know how he got my number, but he just phoned me and said, "I hear you're playing the younger version of me."

"Let's have lunch." So he invited me up to the stages, and we had lunch together," Campbell recounted.

"I felt brilliant after that,” he shared, noting, “I didn't know how he would react to me, and he couldn't have been nicer.”

Campbell first starred in season 12 of NCIS as young Ducky.

McCallum, on the other hand, played Ducky for 20 seasons. He died in 2023. He was 90.