12 Quick Questions for Rocky Carroll

Are you any good at golf?

Nobody’s good at golf. Only professional golfers are good at golf. That’s why we play. Last year I took my first trip to Scotland to golf with a bunch of the guys on the crew of our show. Golf is a thing you never say, “Well, I pretty much mastered it, I don’t need to play anymore.” It’s to me — I love playing it — the greatest metaphor for life I’ve ever experienced. Just when you think you got a handle on it, something comes along and you’re like, “Ugh, I have to start all over again.”

Rocky Carroll stars alongside Mark Harmon in the CBS drama “NCIS.”

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

Had you kept in touch with your Chicago Hope costar Mark Harmon prior to working with him again on NCIS?

No, it was a bit of a reunion. I went in to meet the producers, and I tell people: The good thing about my interview for NCIS [is that] I only knew one person connected to NCIS, and that was Mark Harmon. If you’re going to know one person, and be friends with one person, it’s good that it’s the star of the show. I was a Mark Harmon–approved hire.

You now direct episodes as well. How does that compare to acting?

The days I’m working as an actor, it’s almost like a holiday. I just come off my trailer and I go on set and somebody tells me where to stand and I play the character. As director, you're the first one there and the last one to leave. Acting, you’re pretty much responsible for yourself and your character; directing, you are the royal wedding planner — you’re responsible for everything. You’re not only responsible for the actors, you’re responsible for the layout of the scenes, hair, makeup, wardrobe, all the elements.

You graduated from Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis. Not every actor pursues formal training. Why did you take that path?

At a very early age, all the actors that I looked up to, that I idolized and thought, Hey, I want to do this — they all had some common thread. Meryl Streep went to the Yale School of Drama, Marlon Brando was a member of the Actors Studio — they all had some form of training. I always thought that’s what you do if you’re going to be really good at what you do. It’s one of few professions where you can just wake up one morning and proclaim yourself a professional actor. You can’t wake up and proclaim yourself a professional dentist because you’d get arrested, but as an actor somebody says, “You got a nice look. You should go to Hollywood.” … [But] if you can sit down and by osmosis play the piano, just think how much better you’d be if you had formal training.

You played the trumpet back on the ’90s TV series Roc. Would you consider yourself musical?

I learned to play trumpet for the role in Roc. I haven’t picked up the trumpet since then. I’m an actor who knows how to sing well enough to stay out of trouble. You won’t catch me in an off-Broadway production of Pippin anytime soon. Actors do a little bit of everything. I’ve stayed in the business and stayed relevant for 33 years because somebody told me a long time ago: “You need to do a few things well. Learn to cook several dishes.” So that’s always my mantra.

Did you have a backup plan if acting hadn’t worked out?

I tell my daughter [Elissa, 22] all the time [that] I was a strange kid. At age 7, when I was lying in the grass in the front yard of my house, I looked at the sky and said, This is what I’m going to be. I had three dreams: The first dream was to be middleweight champion of the world, the second dream was to be on TV and the third dream was to play second base for the Cincinnati Reds. I got one out of three worked out.

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Speaking of boxing, with the nickname Rocky [given name Roscoe], did you ever box?

I trained, but I never got in the ring and boxed. When I was on Broadway, I went to a boxing gym right above the Port Authority [Bus Terminal] in New York City. I trained regularly because I always thought boxers and swimmers were the people who were in the best shape. I always had an affinity toward boxers. I thought boxers had a certain sort of commitment — a singular sort of approach to what they do. The training was grueling, and you have to stay laser-focused if you're going to do that. I always tried to mimic that approach. I always admired all the components of what it took to be a boxer, but I realized at a very early age [that] getting hit in the face for a living is a hard way to make a living.

You turn 60 this year. Any birthday plans?

I plan to be on a boat somewhere between here and Mexico fishing for tuna and yellowtail. I’m going to have a group of family and friends and take them to an Airbnb or a hotel near the ocean, maybe in Mexico or San Diego. It will be several days. There will be a fishing trip, a party, a nice dinner — and just celebrate. I have a very small circle. As I get older, I don’t need 60 friends around me. I need a handful of really solid people around me. It’s easy to plan a party when you only have a handful of people you concern yourself with.