NCIS devotees who can’t wait until September to get their next Brian Dietzen fix, you’re in luck. The fan favorite, who plays junior medical examiner Jimmy Palmer on the hit CBS drama, has co-written and stars in a new indie romantic dramedy, Congratulations (available July 30 on Video on Demand).
The role is a bit of a departure from the recently wed Jimmy: Dietzen plays a lovesick schlub whose longtime girlfriend (Justified’s Abby Miller, who also co-wrote the film) rejects his marriage proposal. “The character is very different,” Dietzen says, “although the marketing-slash-producer part of me wants to say, ‘It’s just like Jimmy Palmer in a movie! Let’s see if we can get 22 million people to watch this!'”
As for what’s coming up on NCIS’s new season, Dietzen pleads ignorance. “I was live-tweeting the finale with [executive producer] Gary Glasberg, and I looked at him and said, ‘What the hell just happened?'” remembers Dietzen of the puzzling cliffhanger that depicted Gibbs (Mark Harmon) as a sniper. “And he said, ‘You’ll figure it out next season.’ I said, ‘Come on, I’m in the cast — I’m not gonna tell anybody!'”
This much Dietzen can say: “There’s a baby in the future for Jimmy and his wife, Breena [Michelle Pierce]. We’re going to try to adopt. But outside of that, Gary hasn’t told me anything. I’m gonna take him golfing and pry him for answers.”