As Renee Walker on 24, Annie Wersching was all business – at least until a final, fateful clinch. But on tonight’s episode of NCIS, Wersching is only part business as Deputy DA Gail Walsh. Her character in the episode titled “False Witness” is “very ambitious and hardworking,” says Wersching, “yet she also has some drive to get part of her personal life going. So she’s interested to see if anyone at NCIS is a prospect” – like, specifically, Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly).

Since Wersching’s only signed on for one episode so far, she probably won’t get very far with him. That may be a good thing, given what happened on 24. “For the three years that I worked on the show – two seasons, but it took us three years because of the strike – everybody said, ‘Don’t get close to Jack! You know what happens!’ So of course, literally the second I got extra close to Jack, all their predictions came true. But 24 ended up being known for these big, heart-wrenching deaths. I would have liked to live, but it’s not a bad way to go.”

What she’s living for now: 4-month-old son Freddie. “I definitely love to work, and I’m loving being a mommy, so I’d like to try to balance both,” says Wersching, who wouldn’t balk if the NCIS fandom demanded she graduate to semi-regular status: “24 was so serious that it was nice to join NCIS and even be able to smile once or twice.” – Chris Willman

(Thanks “EvilVagenda” for the scan!)