How Wyatt Fits Into Sam's NCIS: New York Team Explained By Shane Harper

Published Nov 10, 2026, 9:00 AM EST

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. 

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LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna has returned to the Big Apple for NCIS: New York, and Shane Harper’s Wyatt Sellers is one of his new Naval Criminal Investigative Service colleagues.

Last month, NCIS: New York premiered on CBS, serving as the long-running procedural franchise’s eighth installment. New York arrives nearly 20 years after LL Cool J first started playing Sam in NCIS: Los Angeles, which ended in 2023 after 14 seasons. The actor then reprised Sam in a recurring capacity on NCIS: Hawai’i, as well as made a handful of guest appearances on the main NCIS.

While Sam initially only came back to New York to investigate the murder of a close friend, he decided to stay and lead a new NCIS team alongside his “roguish partner” Scott Caan’s Nick Schaeffer. This quartet of field agents includes Harper’s Wyatt, who’s usually working alongside Jacqueline Byers’ Addy Ross. Early into season 1, Wyatt has already proven himself to be an integral member of this team that also includes Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of NCIS’s New York office, Robyn Wells (Jennifer Beals), and Technical Operator Sean Sullivan (Devin Druid).

In an interview with ScreenRant’s Adam Holmes, Harper opened up about Wyatt’s role in NCIS: New York beyond apprehending bad guys. One of the few personal details that’s been revealed about the character so far is that his fiancée broke up with him shortly before the series began, and he’s had no luck selling the engagement ring. Harper shared that New York will explore Wyatt’s former engagement in depth later in the season, though unfortunately for him, that ring isn’t going anywhere:

Coming into these embodying these new characters, we're always looking for little pieces to latch onto because we don't know that much about them. So, as an actor, I'm experiencing what the audience is experiencing as well, where it's like, ‘What's going on? I want to know more about this.’ I'm excited to say that… no spoilers, but we are exploring that, and we have been exploring that more in an intimate way to get more of an understanding of him and this ex-fiancée and all of that. So not giving too much away, but we touch on that and a lot more.

I think that's the fun thing about a show like this: we have 20 episodes to slowly unveil more of the personal stuff, which I think the audiences want. They like the procedural, the ‘what's the new case,’ but then slowly peeling back the layers of the characters is certainly really fun for us as actors, and also I think fun for the audience.

It's funny, and I don't think this will spoil anything too much, but the ring is still around. He hasn't sold it yet. I don't know if he's going to sell it or if he's going to maybe find someone new to give it to, but there hasn't been an episode yet where the ring gets sold. So I have to talk to Byron about that, but it's a really funny bit. At least I thought it was really funny.

As far as Wyatt’s partnership with Addy goes, the latter pokes fun at the former quite often, particularly for his failed attempts to sell the ring, as well as how he likes drinking milk. However, it all comes from a good place, and Addy and Wyatt make an effective investigatory duo. Harper said the following regarding what he likes about their dynamic:

I think there's a real yin yang with them. I think Addy has that New York edge and swagger, and Wyatt, it's the opposite of that. But I like the way that they complement each other. It’s interesting to see them play off of each other and continue to learn about each other. I have to take quite a bit of ribbing from Addy, which is okay. I think as the as the story progresses with them, they'll start to pick up things about each other as the friendship builds, and I don't know if there's going to be more than friendship there. You certainly could see something like that happening.

I don't know if it will, but I really like their relationship and the way that they work together on the cases. They ping pong back and forth, and they feel like a kind of classic duo when they're out on the field. I love when we have to do field days together because we'll be out in the city solving the cases being just the two of us, and I have a good time when we're filming that stuff together.

At the end of the episode “Carousel,” Wyatt and Addy’s relationship entered new territory when she agreed to answer 10 of his personal questions about her. However, at the beginning of the following episode, “Homecoming,” it sounded as though the number had been increased back to 20. Harper described the discrepancy thusly:

That's really funny. So yeah, at the beginning of four, this is really great, but Jackie and I did a bit of ad-libbing at the top of four where we're arguing about how many questions we actually did settle on. I don’t know if we had intentionally done that or if we had read the script and been like, ‘We should add this in,’ but that is in there. If you go back … because the director was like, ‘Do some preamble, and so we were like, ‘Well no, I told you it's 10.’ There was a little bit of that: how many questions do we actually get?

So to be honest, I think maybe they're still unclear, although I'm convinced that it is 10. But they have been going back and forth on it quite a bit. I think the fact that the characters are also in their universe, they're also confused about any questions that they're owed, if that does anything for anyone.

CBS

ScreenRant: How’s your experience been working with LL Cool J, the guy on the cast who goes back nearly 20 years with the NCIS franchise?

It's a neat experience … The way that he approaches his work after what he did 14 seasons on NCIS: Los Angeles, so much success both in music and in acting, and for someone that's been as famous for as long as he's been, and to act the way that he does is really remarkable. He's so wonderful to work with, and is such a great leader, and really shines a light on everyone, gives everyone their flowers, and is really encouraging.

When he walks on a set, it's like he's walking onto a new show. He has so much enthusiasm. I don't know how he does that, but it's really great to work with him, and I'm learning a lot from his approach to the creative process and the long hours and the commitment to the job. He's all about the audience. He’s all about [how] we’re making something for people to put on at home and relax and have fun and enjoy being entertained by by a show that hopefully gets the job done. He’s all about the audience and working really hard, which I think we're all falling in line with that because we really appreciate it.

You never know [with] these big stars. You never know how they're going to be. Sometimes they can be difficult, and he's the opposite. So I think we're all just enjoying that process.

ScreenRant: You mentioned in a previous interview that there was about 20 minutes cut from the NCIS: New York pilot, including a scene where you ended up drinking 4–5 glasses of milk. What was some of the other material that was cut?

So just for the fans, the milk scene, there was a really great moment with Addy and Wyatt talking about them being great partners, and there was a moment where they were like, ‘We’re great partners.’ Obviously they're very different, but they have this moment where they’re like, ‘We’re a good team,’ and then Wyatt is still focused on the ring, and he's pretty sad.

It's a moment of sadness, which, again, we don't know what's going to make these final cuts. It's interesting because he is going through this heartbreak. That was a closing scene in the pilot, and he's quite sad, and you get to feel that for him, which I really liked. So that was that piece, and that’s the scene where I was drinking the milk, if you can believe it. It was a very sentimental piece, but at the top of the scene, I'm chugging milk. It’s very funny.

But there was another scene that we did at a halal cart that was really fun, a little bit more conversational stuff with Addy and Wyatt. But there was a lot. Just those two scenes for us are off the top of my head, and then for the rest of the characters, there's a bunch of other stuff. There was a lot of material to work with, but I definitely liked the halal cart scene as well. I didn't eat the halal though, because I was worried that … I don't like talking with my mouth full in the scene, so I was acting like I was about to eat it. But then it worked for my character. I was like, he's such an out-of-towner. He's probably never had halal before, so he didn't even know how to eat it.

It was funny. Yesterday, we were filming another scene. I'm filming a scene, and I asked for oat milk instead of whole milk because I just wanted it to be easier on the tummy.

ScreenRant: What characters from other NCIS shows would you like Wyatt to meet?

I'm not sure. I guess that could be fun for him to maybe meet … I know they were talking about [Sam’s] old partner from Los Angeles coming back, [that] could be fun. Anyone that ties into Sam Hanna's world that can give Wyatt more understanding of Sam would be cool. So anyone that [Sam’s] had any kind of meaningful interactions with either on the field or off, I think could be interesting.

I think the fans too are obviously looking forward to potential crossovers, and I think we're in big support of of that because we're all newbies. Anyone that would get the fans excited, that are fan favorites that could maybe pop over for a few episodes, I think would be good. It just always gets everyone jazzed.

ScreenRant: I’d like to get your thoughts about NCIS: New York’s most important star: Duncan, a.k.a. Sid [the dog].

It's funny because our cinematographer is Sid, and I think that's why they named Duncan Sid. So that's a fun tidbit, he’s named after our DP, which is fun. But Duncan is really great. I grew up with two pit bulls myself, and I have a real soft spot for Duncan. I don't interact with him enough, even though Wyatt's definitely an animal person. So I would like to get some more cuddles … Addy’s always playing with the dog at the top of a scene or something, but it’s never me. So I feel like they need to change that because I'm a dog guy. I love dogs, and particularly pit bulls.

But it's funny, because I think there was a post yesterday that went up with Jennifer and Duncan walking around. I don't know if you saw that, it was a BTS video, and it got so many views. Dog videos just get so many views. Everyone loves them. [Duncan's] the star. I just told Jennifer Beals yesterday, the fans are going crazy for her and Duncan. But yeah, Duncan's great, and Sid is a very important character that hopefully will be featured many, many, many more times in the future.

He's so good. He's so well-behaved and so sweet, and he'll just come up to you on a break and just give you a little snuggle, and then go back to his mark. It's wild. He's a very good performer. The other funny thing that we do is there's a big stuffed animal that we'll use when he's not ready to come to set yet. I don't know where he is. I don't know if he's in the hair and makeup chair or something, but Jackie will be rehearsing with this giant stuffed animal, and I get a kick out of that. I think it's really funny.

What Filming NCIS: New York Has Been Like For Shane Harper

CBS

ScreenRant: What was it that drew you to working on NCIS: New York when you first read the pilot script?

Well, I thought the pilot was incredibly fun and action-packed. [It had] all of the pieces of a great pilot. It was paced really well. The characters were extremely well-defined, and it was just a really perfect pilot. And then when I heard that Byron Belasco was doing it, and he was going to be the showrunner and executive producer. I was really excited about that because I'm a big fan of his, and I really loved Kingdom and the other things that he's worked on.

So that drew me to it. And I'd never done a network show like this in the capacity that I'm doing, and I, to be honest, have always wanted to be a part of a big network show like this. So when I initially read for this, it's one actor in a million. There are difficult roles to get, so I wasn't expecting it to even go my way, but I obviously had my fingers crossed, and here we are.

ScreenRant: How has working on NCIS: New York compared to your time on Power Book IV?

It's different. It's funny, I’ve joked around when people stop me, and they know me from Power, and then they will talk to me about NCIS. The bit that we have is, I'm going from playing a gangster to playing a badge, or a shield as we say, in New York. It's interesting to be on the other side of the law there, and I'm honestly still adjusting to playing like a very wholesome character. I'm still figuring it out.

We're halfway through right now. I'm starting episode 11 tonight. I'm gonna leave for set in a few hours, but it's still an adjustment because that role in Power was, like everything in Power is, so hard edged. I loved the crew and the cast and the producers on Power. I love everyone on this show, and we do also get a lot of that good New York grit in NCIS as well that I know [LL Cool J] certainly is interested in finding all the things that we love about the NCIS world, and also servicing more of a New York edge and flair to it, which has been really fun as well. Two very different projects, but I'm enjoying them equally.

ScreenRant: What’s been your favorite location to film in for NCIS: New York so far?

Well, it's hard to beat Central Park, which was in the pilot. Central Park was pretty extraordinary to be in with a big film crew. That was pretty awesome. Again, the Diamond District was really cool as well. Also, in the pilot, we filmed right here in Williamsburg, near the docks, where [there’s] the beautiful view of the city. I think it’s in Episode 2, there’s a car crash scene down there that we filmed. It's an empty lot, and you get the whole skyline looking over the river. That location's been really fun. We’ve been there a couple times because it's so nice and it looks good. I like it down there a lot.

I'm trying to think if there are any other interesting locations. We're all over the city. We're all over Brooklyn. I think it's a big part of the fun. It’s just getting to be out there amongst it. And the New Yorkers have been nice so far, so hopefully we don't overstay our welcome when we're parking our big trailers out in a city that already doesn't have parking. There's a lot of stuff filming in the city I think is really good for the entertainment community and everything. So yeah, we're happy to be here.

NCIS: New York airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS's fall 2026 schedule.