The May 21, 2023 NCIS: Los Angeles finale may be the last time we see Eric Christian Olsen in front of the camera—at least for a while. The multi-hyphenate actor-writer-producer is very much enjoying wearing his producing hat right now as he prepares to launch the new Matlock on CBS.
“I’ve had so many experiences working for CBS for 13 years and I did think that this was an incredible opportunity and platform to find stories that I was really passionate about and then help build them from the ground up,” Olsen said at the Television Critics Association press tour panel for Matlock.
“I think the ability to pivot and help tell stories that I’m proud of from a producing standpoint and solving complex problems with communication and grace and empathy, what a wonderful opportunity I was given from our studio partners and the network, so I had to help produce it.”
But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t miss acting. There are times when Olsen watches Matlock filming on the monitors and wishes he was in front of the cameras instead of behind.
“I’ve seen those moments with Kathy Bates where she’s just knocking it out of the park and I’ve got tears in my eyes,” he tells Parade. “The difference is I’m not across from her, I’m behind a monitor. There are those moments that really are tempting to be drawn back into it. But we have so much stuff in development and our bandwidth is so full of the shows that, yeah, I miss it, but I also love what I’m doing.”
At every table read, not every role has been cast, so he gets the opportunity to stand in for the missing actors and read those parts.
“Every time there’s a horrible lawyer, a mean lawyer, they’re like, ‘Eric, will you read this?’ So, it’s just me playing terrible lawyers. I think there’s an opportunity for a big villain role sometime in the future.”
Olsen is also impressed with how the scripts turned out by Matlock showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman and gets the urge to say the words that she writes.
“In some of these really good dramatic or funny scenes, I secretly put myself in there just because they’re so beautiful. To do Jennie’s words, there’s speeches that she writes that as an actor, it’s really hard not to say those words.”
Until then, though, Olsen is happy with his choice to focus on developing and producing projects for his Cloud Nine Productions, which previously had Woke on Hulu for two seasons, and he says it’s a skill he absorbed as a child from his mother.
“I do think the ability to identify a potential problem, I learned that skillset from watching my mom, which is her ability to look 10 steps ahead and figure out what the obstacle is going to be and then enter into that situation with communication, kindness and empathy and help problem solve to help execute Jennie’s vision of it. You don’t have that as an actor because you’re not part of all the process. From day one that’s how I’ve been.”
Related: Kathy Bates Talks Candidly About Why She Almost Quit Acting and Wishing She Were a Man in Hollywood
And when asked by Parade if there’s a chance that he might bring in former co-star and sister-in-law Daniela Ruah, who’s directed NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS and NCIS: Hawaii, in to helm an episode of Matlock, he doesn’t discount that.
“I’m sure at some point that we will,” he says. “The first season’s always really difficult and she was doing the mothership [NCIS] and NCIS: Hawaii. So, with success I think there’ll be lots of opportunities to have Dani come in and direct.”
Olsen has also stayed in touch with LL COOL J [Todd Smith]— even if just through his music—and several other members of the cast of NCIS: Los Angeles.
“Todd just put out a single [the other night],” Olsen recalls. “I was driving home, and I clicked it on and I just was overwhelmed. No show goes 13 years. At that point, you’re seeing [co-stars] more often than you’re seeing your family. And so, I actively miss Todd and I was texting with Renée [Felice Smith] this morning and I see Dani all the time because she’s married to my brother.”
