Many actors have walked through the revolving door of the NCIS Major Case Response Team’s Navy Yard headquarters. Some of them have been relatively fresh faces, but “NCIS” has also filled many roles with actors who had plenty of pedigree even before they joined the show. Actors like Mark Harmon (as team leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who originally had a very different name), David McCallum (Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard), Lauren Holly (Director Jenny Shepard), Gary Cole (Alden Parker), and Wilmer Valderrama (Nick Torres) had all tasted success in previous projects before “NCIS,” but even they pale in comparison to one name who was once considered for a big role in the show: Jennifer Aniston.

In a joint oral history interview with The Hollywood Reporter, several makers of the show discussed casting, and they revealed that Aniston’s name was once on the table to play the tragic Caitlin Todd, a role that ultimately went to Sasha Alexander. ” I think Jennifer Aniston was available at the time, and her name was floated,” “NCIS” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson said. The show’s casting director Susan Bluestein went on to specify that Aniston never actually learned about their potential interest to cast her. “I don’t remember ever offering it to Jennifer Aniston. Jennifer Aniston could very well have been a name that we discussed,” Bluestein said. 

The character of Caitlin “Kate” Todd would have been a serious departure from “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston’s usual comedic fare. Todd’s two-season arc with the show, after all, is extremely tragic and ends with a shocking death, courtesy of major “NCIS” antagonist Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin).  Perhaps the character’s harsh arc combined with the fact that Aniston was primarily known as a comedian led to the decision to never actually reach out to the actress. Still, while Sasha Alexander did an excellent job as Todd, who knows? Perhaps Aniston’s take on the character would have altered her arc considerably, potentially even leading to a longer “NCIS” tenure.

As it happens, the role of Kate Todd wasn’t the only one that went through some very strange casting considerations. Leroy Jethro Gibbs, in particular, proved a tough nut to crack. In The Hollywood Reporter’s article, the folks behind “NCIS” revealed that actors who were considered to play Gibbs before Harmon ranged from relatively serious options Scott Glenn and Andew McCarthy to the swing-for-the-fences consideration of the likes of Harrison Ford, Patrick Swayze, and Charlie Sheen. 

Despite these fascinating names floating around, “NCIS” co-creator Donald P. Bellisario and others ended up having a pretty strong opinion about the show’s casting — to the point that Bellisario at one point threatened to cancel the show over one casting decision. Knowing this and the show’s long-running success, it’s likely that the people playing the roles were the absolute best ones available.