NCIS: Origins' Tyla Abercrumbie Tees Up Heart-Tugging Mary Jo Reveals: ‘There Was a Lot That Surprised Me'

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21-03-2025

'You know, you're not alone. I have my own…'
Five months ago, NCIS: Origins viewers were left hanging with that incomplete thought, wondering what Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo Hayes was about to say next after probie Leroy Jethro Gibbs made clear that the loss of his daughter was too fresh for him to help watch over a young girl.
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When CBS' already-renewed freshman drama resumes its season this Monday at 10/9c, you will get that answer — though it may not be quite what you predicted, and it is delivered in a wonderful episode that also illustrates exactly all that Mary Jo does at NIS, and how her work has incredible ripple effects.
TVLine spoke with Tyla Abercrumbie about finally getting to shed light on the NIS Camp Pendleton office's 'HSIC' (Head Secretary in Charge).
TVLINE | It's been a minute since Episode 4, where we got this half of a half of a hint that Mary Jo has something in common with Gibbs. Is it finally time to learn some things about the 'HSIC'?Yeah, it has been a while! And it's nice because, like you said, it was a little hint dropped that most people probably forgot about it, and then you get to this episode and you're like, 'Oh, now I see.'
TVLINE | Had you been asking the showrunners, 'When's it all going to come out?'I actually knew when it was going to come out; they told me that it wouldn't air until around March Madness. Now, as a person that doesn't follow March Madness, I was like, 'Well, when is that?' [Laughs]
TVLINE | What sets in motion this Mary Jo-centric episode?Well, she has been taking care of everyone else and kind of moving through her life — I think of her as very optimistic and loving the life she's built for herself — when these papers arrive for her, bringing the past forward. You see her be thrown back into a reality. We can forget, sometimes, that there are things lingering out there, unresolved, because we focus so much on others' problems, and that's what Mary Jo does. She focuses on helping other people get through whatever they're trying to get through, so she can avoid thinking about her own problems.
TVLINE | Had you been fully debriefed on what her backstory would be? Or was there anything in this script that surprised you a bit?There was a lot that surprised me in this script. And no, I hadn't been debriefed on the backstory, but I did have a really wonderful couple of conversations with [showrunners] Gina and David, where we talked about what we wanted to do with Mary Jo and what I wanted to see in this character. You don't always get such a luxury, because people have their ideas and you just show up and say the words, but this was a really nice collaboration. We did talk about things that we wanted, I wanted, for her. I wanted to show that she had family and friends that were from her world that reflected her, meaning from the African American, Black, community that she has outside of work.
TVLINE | Yeah, we get a glimpse of a dinner party she hosts.Yes, and we get to see Hattie [Hoskins] from Episode 4, who plays Millie. You see that she's building community, that people don't just leave her life but become her family. I also wanted to deal with giving her real issues that are outside of [the office] and the victims of crimes, that she had something else. They took that and ran with it.
TVLINE | A lot of Mary Jo's workplace dynamics have focused on her and Franks (Kyle Schmid), and to be sure, it's a wonderful thing they have going. But were you excited, in this episode, to really get some scenes with Mariel [Molino's Lala] and Diany [Rodriguez's Vera]?I was, and we all said that. We were like, 'We want more of these, where the girls just connect and bond as women and coworkers.' It was really nice because I'd watched them work, I admire their work. They're both so talented, and they really helped, in my scene with them, to move the moment emotionally forward because I now know them as people, and not just as characters. You always hope your scene partner is listening while you're talking, you're listening while they're talking, but when you know the people you're working with and you feel that honest energy, it's really nice. And it showed.
TVLINE | Meanwhile, Mary Jo's scenes with her assistant secretaries are like the comic relief of the episode….They are! I love those two characters because they're there and you don't really see much of them, and so they create this comic relief. But at the same time, you see Mary Jo kind of in charge of two tiers of people. You've got the agents who are independent of her and doing something totally different, but then you have these young ladies who will probably run an office someday.
TVLINE | Is this another episode that tugs at the heart?It tugs at the heart a couple times, for a couple reasons. Not only is it written and performed lovely, but it's also for anyone who has been enjoying Mary Jo and her quips and seeing her as this really, really cool character, but wanting to know more about her, because they've fallen in love with her, I believe. I hope they love me! And I think that with anybody you care for, when you see them go through something, that emotion tugs at your heart. So, yeah, I believe this episode is going to do that to a lot of fans.Best of TVLine
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