Richard Thomas appeared as a member of the NCIS: New Orleans cast during the Season 6 premiere. It may have been a surprise for most CBS viewers, as it wasn’t a heavily advertised moment.
Dwayne Pride (played by Scott Bakula) appeared to be taking part in a disciplinary meeting to begin the new season, but the meeting took a bit of a turn when NCIS Deputy Director Van Cleef began speaking.
For all of his activities from Season 5, which included getting kidnapped, drugged, rescued, and being successful in tracking down several criminals outside of the country, Pride got a medal. He had thought punishments were coming, but instead, he got some nice things added to his file. Nice things that were later redacted.
Pride's on it! #NCISNOLA pic.twitter.com/L16XDAinfc
— NCIS: New Orleans (@NCISNewOrleans) September 25, 2019
Who plays NCIS Deputy Director Van Cleef?
Actor Richard Thomas took on the powerful role within the NCIS: New Orleans cast. Though his opening scene, speaking to Pride while surrounded by several other high-ranking officials went by quickly, it was evident that this was one character Pride would have to deal with again.
CBS viewers surely recognized Thomas as John-Boy Walton from The Waltons. He played the character for years before moving on to other projects. Kids from the 90s likely remember him best as Bill Denbrough from Stephen King’s It.
Thomas has a long list of credits to his name, including Frank Gaad on The Americans, Sanford Bensinger on Billions, and David Robinson from The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson. He also has quite a few shows where he just appeared in one episode and films where he played supporting characters.
Introducing NCIS Deputy Director Van Cleef in this fashion seems to hint that it’s a character that could return in future episodes. Viewers will have to just wait and see, especially after what happened during the ending of the Season 6 premiere.
NCIS: New Orleans airs Tuesday nights at 10/9c on CBS.