As Mike Franks, actor Kyle Schmid sees his job in NCIS: Origins to be the guy trying to hold everything together.
That’s a challenge in the season 1 finale, which sees Gibbs come under suspicion for the murder of Pedro Hernandez.
Kyle Schmid talks about the finale, including an important phone call Franks receives.
Kyle Schmid is ready to be frank(s).
The actor, who stars as the younger iteration of NCIS‘s Mike Franks on NCIS: Origins, has a lot of thoughts about what might be ahead for his character. In the season 1 finale, Franks continued to nurse his pain at losing girlfriend Tish (Tonantzin Carmelo) while also dealing with the crisis of Gibbs’ murder of Pedro Hernandez coming under investigation.
If all of that weren’t enough, Franks finally figured out who had been calling his house and hanging up without speaking — his brother, Mason. Turns out Mason wants to discuss some unfinished business that happened in Vietnam. Sounds like potential for the opposite of a happy family reunion.
“There’s a whole season of buried secrets for Franks and his family,” Schmid tells Entertainment Weekly. “That is a conversation that I’m very much looking forward to exploring in season 2. There’s so much left on the table that fans are going to just eat up.”
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Mariel Molino and Kyle Schmid in ‘NCIS: Origins’
“I’m curious as to what happened in Vietnam,” Schmid continues. “Did he take off? Was he injured? Was he a coward or did PTSD take a better part of who he was? Did he change? When I think about it, my mind just goes in circles as I go down the rabbit hole. But whatever did happen, it was bad enough that Franks avoided his brother for 10 or 15 years.”
It sounds like the day he will have to face his brother is going to come sooner than later. And that’s not the least of Franks’ outstanding problems, including tension between him, Lala (Mariel Molino), and Gibbs (Austin Stowell); Tish’s farewell; and impending bad news about Lala’s accident. We called up Schmid to get his take on all of it.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tish left for parts unknown. How much do you feel that is continuing to weigh on Franks or shape his decision making?
KYLE SCHMID: I feel like she’s always going to be that angel on his shoulder in the sense of trying to do what’s right and make the difficult decisions. But at the same time, when you’re heartbroken, it’s really difficult to maintain a rational way of thinking. So, there’s a kind of a double-edged sword of taking her sound advice in the back of Franks’ head, but at the same time, perhaps rebelling and trying to revert or find a way to carve his own path and explore a new identity for him that doesn’t include Tish.
Is he going to try to track her down?
That’s one of the beautiful things about relationships as you grow older, is respecting your partner and the choices that they’re making. If Tish wanted to leave and Franks refused to respect that and decided to go after her, he would be negating the love that he has for her. Letting her go is the purest way to express his love and respect for her as opposed to negating her wishes and acting purely out of a selfish choice.
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Caleb Foote and Kyle Schmid in ‘NCIS: Origins’
There’s this discussion about whether or not they should tell Randy (Caleb Foote). Why is Franks so vehement that they should?
I’ll be honest with you, as a viewer and somebody who’s watching the show, and even as somebody who read the script, I still went like, “I don’t know if we should tell Randy.” What does this accomplish besides jeopardizing his own complicated life? However, at the end of the day, when you truly have a family and a team, not including the people that you trust most is a mistake. Randy is an intelligent asset to Franks’ team, and he’s solved a multitude of crimes on his own. He’s a hard worker. He is absolutely an asset. From a leader’s perspective, not utilizing the best tools around you is a mistake. And Randy is an incredibly valuable tool to the team.
Do you think deep down he really believes that Lala could betray the team?
It’s a difficult question to answer because I’m of two different minds. If you’re sitting in a room with four people and four people know a secret, and that secret gets out, the logical thing, despite what your heart wants to say, is that it must be one of those four people. Turning a blind eye to that and pleading ignorance can be incredibly destructive if you are only thinking with your heart. That’s the most difficult thing for Franks. He doesn’t want to believe it. He doesn’t even want to bring it up. But the simple fact is it has to be someone. We’ve seen Lala act immaturely. There are moments throughout the first season where Lala’s choices reflect that of somebody who acts on emotion and not logic. Despite the fact that Franks could never wish that somebody he cares about and loves so much could ever betray them as a family, he has to ask the question.
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Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in ‘NCIS: Origins’
When Lara Macy returns the rifle to Franks and says there’s insufficient evidence to pursue, do you think he fully believes her, or do you think he knows that something went on behind his back?
Franks is an intelligent man. He can read between the lines. That’s why he is such a good interrogator. I think there’s more to that story to be told.
Macy also tells him that that Gibbs was her source. Obviously, that’s before he got himself together and was working with NIS, but do you expect Mike to have a talk with him about drinking and running his mouth?
It might look a little bit like Franks walking up to Gibbs and cracking him across the face. He’s old school, man. That is some s—. That is ridiculous. So yeah, I hope there’s a conversation there. Does it need to find its way on to television? I don’t know. But if it were up to me, it would be very quick, it would probably include a punch, and I’m sure that punch would be well received, and these two men would go on with their lives. Gibbs is very vulnerable. And he’s not the type to dodge guilt or to not take responsibility for his actions.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
