Brian Dietzen Was Hesitant To Co-Write An Episode Of NCIS For Fear Of Overstepping

As it turns out, Brian Dietzen made his feature film scriptwriting debut as co-writer of the 2012 movie, “Congratulations” (via IMDb).  But he says another matter is an actor writing for a series they star in. As he told Variety recently about co-writing the 2022 “NCIS” episode “The Helpers,” most actors would generally rather direct than pen a script. In this regard, “Rocky Carroll directs a lot of episodes of our show,” Dietzen said of the actor who plays NCIS Director Leon Vance, “And he’s phenomenal. But it’s not as though there’s a signup sheet where it’s like, ‘I’d like to do this.'”

Read Related Also: The 6 Best And 6 Worst Things From The Rocky Franchise

He added that after working with the “NCIS” ensemble for so many years, it seemed like a natural progression to write for the show. “Coming up with something and putting words in the mouth of these characters … just seemed to make a lot of sense,” he recalled. But once showrunner Steve Binder had cleared him to create what became “The Helpers,” the prospect was frankly intimidating. “We have one of the most talented and under-appreciated writing staffs on television,” Dietzen said, “So I thought that [writing for the show] might be seen as hubris, and I didn’t want to overstep, to be honest.” But the experience of crafting a story for “NCIS” was a positive one for Dietzen, as the actor told ET Online, “I couldn’t be more proud.”