Considering how popular the TV series has become, it’s interesting that NCIS is a spin-off of a law show. While sometimes actors can get lost in a huge cast, Eric Christian Olsen impressed NCIS: Los Angeles fans as Marty Deeks, a detective who is incredibly likable in every single scene.
Even though Olsen keeps a lower profile than some other celebrities, that doesn’t mean that there is nothing fascinating about him. In fact, he has lived a great life that includes a lot of funny stories, including how his marriage to Sarah Wright began. Unfortunately, though, the actor decided to quit NCIS: Los Angeles. What has he been doing since his last episode aired in May 2023?
Why Did Eric Christian Olsen Leave NCIS?
There are probably no words to describe what it feels like when an actor who has been working for years gets a regular, steady job on a TV show. While the actor starred in films like Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd and The Hot Chick, Eric Christian Olsen’s Razzie nomination must have been tough. Thankfully, he began playing Marty Deeks on NCIS: Los Angeles in 2010. Getting that job must have been exciting and made all the hard work that he put into his career beforehand feel even better.
While of course, an actor can’t stay on a TV show forever, it was still sad when Olsen decided to leave NCIS: Los Angeles. After fans wondered for quite a few years just how long he would stay on the series, Olsen’s decision became official in 2023.
Olsen’s final NCIS: Los Angeles episode was the two-part season 14 finale. Deeks’s partner Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) found out that she was pregnant. They started a new and exciting life journey.
It seems that Olsen left NCIS because he wanted to focus on producing. He has a production company called Cloud Nine Productions. He produces TV shows for CBS and has been doing really well.
In November 2022, Deadline reported that CBS had bought several TV shows from Olsen’s company. These included a law drama, crime show called Peculiar, a rom-com called Mixed Signals, and a Latinx comedy called Family Insurance.
In March 2023, Olsen talked about producing Matlock, which is his next TV show. He will be behind the camera as a producer on the reboot of Matlock. The original show was very popular and aired from 1986 to 1995. This time around, Kathy Bates will play the main character, and Jason Ritter is also a cast member.
Olsen shared with Parade that he would be spending time in Toronto to produce the series. He said that while he wrote two episodes of Matlock, he didn’t think that he would focus on writing in the future.
Olsen said, “I really wanted to do that experience because when you’re working with writers it’s hard to say we need to implement X, Y, and Z if you’ve never done it, so you’ve got to sit down with an empty page and say, ‘I’ve got to tell a story.’”
The actor told Entertainment Tonight Canada that he loves the message behind this new version of Matlock. He said, “As a kid that was raised by an incredibly strong mom and two incredibly strong, you know, grandmothers, to have her as our lead and our entry point into this world of cut-throat New York capitalist lawyers. It’s remarkable.”
In the past, Eric Christian Olsen was an executive producer for the TV series Woke, which aired from 2020 to 2022. Marshall Todd and Keith Knight came up with the idea for the comedy, which is inspired by Knight’s time as a cartoonist. Lamorne Morris played the main character Keef.
Is Eric Christian Olsen Still Acting After Leaving NCIS: Los Angeles?
Eric Christian Olsen hasn’t expressed that he doesn’t want to act anymore. But it doesn’t seem that he has been cast in anything new since NCIS: Los Angeles.
His most recent movie credit is 2019’s The Place of No Words. Besides NCIS, his most recent TV credit is one episode of Robot Chicken that aired in 2018. His IMDb page doesn’t have any TV shows in the works, besides the ones that he is producing. It definitely looks like producing is where he is happiest now. It’s great that he has found something he adores so much.
Olsen has also been spending time with his family. He and wife Sarah Wright have three kids: Winter, Esmé, and Wyatt. A few years ago, Olsen told a funny story about Wyatt on Conan. Any parent who has potty-trained their toddler can find something relatable here. Of course, it’s also just a hilarious anecdote.
The actor said that when he potty trained Wyatt, he thought that using the bathroom outside in bushes would be a good idea since there was a drought. He said during a preschool interview, Wyatt used the washroom behind a plant inside the classroom. While Wyatt was very proud of himself, that made things awkward, of course.
Even though Eric Christian Olsen has left NCIS: Los Angeles behind, he really loves the character of Marty Deeks. He seems to feel good about the years that he spent on the show.
In May 2023, the actor spoke to TV Insider and explained why he related to his character and why he liked playing him so much.
Olsen said, “Deeks’ emotional growth over the course of the series was from compartmentalized, unemotional, self-preservation to fearless vulnerability. That fearless vulnerability is something I try to lead with every day. Glennon Doyle said it best, “When someone asks me why I cry so often, I say, ‘For the same reason I laugh so often — because I’m paying attention.’ I tell them that we can choose to be perfect and admired or to be real and loved.”