Kyle Schmid talks Mystery File and plays Mike Franks

Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) will pass through when an old case resurfaces.

In the November 4 episode of NCIS: OriginsWith the countdown to an execution, Franks races to discover the location of a missing body of a death row inmate and fulfill a promise he made to the victim’s sister before time runs out. Below, Schmid gives a preview of how that’s going to go, talks about playing Franks, teases what will happen to that file from the premiere, and more.

We clearly had an idea of ​​who Mike Franks is based on what we know from the original series. But what surprises you most when you get to know him as he was then?

Kyle Schmid: That’s interesting because I get to know him through our writing. I get to know him every day because I am him. I become him. So that’s a pretty cool question because I’ll tell you one of the best things about working on this show as someone who’s been in the industry for 30 years is that once a week I get an email with us new script and I have no idea what it’s going to be. And it’s such an exciting moment to go, this is it. This is what I’ll be doing next week. It’s nerve-wracking because you just hope it’s right. And then you’ve got a little bit of ego going and you think: I hope I’m in it a lot.

The most important thing is: how are they going to write my character and how am I going to bring it to life? And with (showrunners) David (J. North) and Gina (Lucita Monreal), I’m always impressed by the integrity of the writing and the voices of these characters. And every week I end up sending them a text or an email thanking them for the dialogue, the character, and the writing. It’s so great to be able to do this because they challenge me regularly.

And we meet this character who was included in this origin series because of his relationship with Gibbs (Austin Stowell). And we get to see what he became and why he’s this gruff character that Gibbs looks up to so much and no pressure or anything. (Laughs) But our writers give me these scenes that are so well written and so thought out. And then Franks’ voice, I think, rings so true to me that I get to put on my boots every day and go to work and do what I love and become a man who has a heart as big as this world. who loves his family, his NOS team of misfits that he would die for, and gets to work with them. And that’s how I feel when I start working in the studio. I love my actors and I love my team, and I go to work every day with a smile on my face.

This next episode is very stressful for Franks. Check out a preview of this case and how he’ll handle it. It gives us a taste of what he was like even before we saw him now.

Yeah, so, Franks says in the episode, “Rookie mistake, making a promise like that.” Promising someone closure, promising someone that you can ease their emotional pain when it comes to loss, like what (the victim’s sister) is trying to digest in this episode, I mean, what an impossible thing to give to someone. And yet, because Franks wears his heart on his sleeve and becomes so emotionally tied to trying to keep his end of the bargain, it tears him apart. He takes emotional responsibility for something that is impossible. And so he slowly unravels in this episode, as he gets a second chance to right this wrong, to make good on this promise he couldn’t keep years ago.

I think there’s something admirable about the emotion that he takes on, the fact that he really takes responsibility for his words and that promise and the fact that it eats him up. I think there is something valuable in the type of person who takes responsibility and feels guilty for their actions. And I think that is a wonderful characteristic of Franks. And so throughout this episode we see him unravel and feel all the pain her sister feels, and the ups and downs. I mean, what a crazy episode. When they handed it over to me, going back to that, I remember calling David and Gina and almost being in tears because I was so excited to bring this to life. And that’s why I fell in love with Franks.

The season started by introducing this mystery with Franks, the file and Vera (Diany Rodriguez). What can you say about that? It emphasizes the relationship between Franks and Vera because we see the tension there – especially in the upcoming episode – but he trusts her, and that file plays a role in that.

He trusts her. (Laughs) This is such a loaded question because everything with Franks goes to the heart, and I think this is what the audience relates to the most about his character. That file has the ability to empower Frank and absolutely destroy him. And it’s a very dangerous tool on this show. So what’s in that file is something that personally as an actor and as Franks, I’m very curious to see what happens to it.

I heard you’re planning to participate in Movember. Why is that important to you?

I run a campaign called Men for Mental. So men for mental change, men for understanding the psychological hardships of life and hoping that we can make that conversation a much more common conversation between men, in an effort to remove the stigma around men’s mental health. And ideally I wanted: it’s okay not to be okay. Things don’t always go well for most people. And I’ve lost friends to mental health. I have lost friends to suicide. I live in an industry where so many people are celebrated for wearing their hearts on their sleeves, but that also invites vulnerability into our lives that is often unsustainable. We live our lives through a microscope. I also lost my mother last November.

I’m so sorry.

Thank you. But that experience also made me realize that I believe she is in a better place. And I saw how it affected my family. I recognize how it has affected me, and I understand what it feels like to carry so many emotions and be surrounded by loved ones, but I also understand what it feels like to be alone at the same time. And so I started having conversations with friends in the industry who are just starting out, and we start having these conversations and I say, just give me 15 minutes of your time so we can just talk about it. Each conversation lasted an hour. Every conversation just turns into this opportunity to talk openly about life and the opportunity to shed the stigma and put on this kind of brave, courageous coat and talk honestly about things. And I think it’s been overwhelmingly worth it to just take the opportunity to talk to friends and then hopefully people can see these videos and turn to their loved ones, or turn to their brother, or turn to their turn to a friend and say: how are you really doing? although? Are you doing well? That’s okay. It’s okay, man. You’re not alone. So it’s very important to me.

And it was also important for me to take the opportunity to… When I wasn’t on a show and I’ve had huge waves throughout my career, and I always said, if I’m on a show, then I’m going do something to make a difference. And then you’re on a show and suddenly you’re working 15 hours a day and trying to juggle – I just had a little girl and I’ve got a family and responsibilities and it’s so easy to blink and life goes on pass you by. And I didn’t want that to happen again. I think Movember has been a great partner in this. I think Mike Franks will have one of the most iconic mustaches on television this year and hopefully for many years to come. And I thought this was a great opportunity to collaborate with Movember.

Gillette jumped on board and immediately donated $10,000 for us because they believed in our cause. And we have (a lot of) people. And just word of mouth, this went from four interviews to 15 in three days, and it’s exciting to talk about something that I think is really making a difference.

NCIS: OriginsMonday, 10/9c, CBS