Worry not, “NCIS” fans, as Wilmer Valderrama’s casting as Zorro in an upcoming Disney+ limited series won’t interfere with his role on CBS’ No. 1 drama for the time being.
“NCIS has been and will be my home for a while,” Valderrama told TVInsider in April, confirming he has no plans to jump ship. He’s even excited about the burgeoning friendship between his character, Nick Torres, and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), which he declares will provide a definitive change for Knight’s persona. “Torres is going to be very instrumental in the rebirth of Special Agent Knight. And I can’t tell you much more because the finale is going to be very definitive and it’s going to do a reconstruction and deconstruction of what you think you knew about her,” he said.
“Zorro” will be written, run, and executive produced by Bryan Cogman, according to Variety. The limited series will likely film over Valderrama’s summer break from “NCIS,” which means it may be on track to emerge during the winter of 2024 or 2025. Before the SAG-AFTRA strike, it had been set for a 2021 debut.
While there have been no further casting announcements, the official series logline reads, “When tragedy strikes his family, privileged caballero Diego de la Vega (Valderrama) returns to his hometown of El Pueblo de Los Angeles and discovers a culture of corruption and injustice that will lead him to take on the mantle of the masked vigilante Zorro — America’s first true superhero.” The project has nothing to do with Paramount+’s controversial upcoming “Zorro” series.
The Spanish hero has been looming large over Valderrama’s life lately, leading to a funny footnote during an “NCIS” shoot.
Wilmer Valderrama trained to rope and ride for an NCIS episode. .. on the back of a horse named Zorro
“NCIS” Season 21, Episode 9, “Prime Cut,” gave Wilmer Valderrama the chance to ride and rope as Nick Torres — and allowed him to get some prep work in for “Zorro.”
“I’m going to start training for some really complex riding very soon for other things and other dreams of mine, as you can imagine what I’m talking about,” the actor told TV Insider, referring to “Zorro.”
Dashing horseback work aside, Valderrama admitted that a funny coincidence during the filming of “Prime Cut” tied his old work to his upcoming role. “The funniest joke about it was that the horse that was my stunt horse, its name was Zorro! We were like, what the hell just happened here? My worlds were colliding. So it was like these signs that tell you that something’s happening for a reason,” he said. Since the actor thinks he’d be pretty good at solving crimes in real life, hopefully, his passion for catching the bad guys will blend into his work for “Zorro” as well.
