Here's Where You've Seen Ernie Malik From NCIS: Hawaii Before
"NCIS: Hawai'i" offers not only an exotic new locale in the "NCIS" universe, but a new take on the series. Vanessa Lachey was cast as the series lead, Special Agent Jane Tennant, who balances her career with being a single mother, per Variety. She is also the first female lead in an "NCIS" series. While the show features trademark procedural elements that keeps bringing fans back, "NCIS: Hawai'i" offers a more in-depth look into the characters' personal lives than in previous series.
"We try to stay true to what 'NCIS' is but we also want to add some layers that set it apart," Lachey told CBS New York in September. Being cast as agent Tennant also had an impact on the actor's own personal life, as her and husband Nick Lachey packed their bags and moved to the island. "It was a talk that I had with my husband ... And I'll never forget him saying, 'This is your time and you've been there in the past for me,'" she recalled to Entertainment Tonight in September.
A talented batch of actors were hired to co-star with Lachey on the CBS series, which included veteran character actor Jason Antoon, who was cast as NCIS Cyber Intelligence Specialist Ernie Malik. Antoon's character is a man of many talents. "Ernie has a competence to him that bleeds into everything he does," executive producer Christopher Silber told TV Insider. Similar to his character, Antoon is a man of many talents. So what other projects do viewers recognize him from?
A legendary director gave Jason Antoon his big break
Jason Antoon got his start working in theater, and he earned his BFA in Drama from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University. His stage breakthrough came when he was cast in the Tony Award-winning musical "Contact," per IMDb. Not only did this role propel Antoon's theater career, but it led to him being noticed by Steven Spielberg after the director attended one of his shows. "I got this call randomly. Apparently Spielberg sees a lot of Broadway shows," he said while appearing on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show" in 2009. "I got a call saying, 'Spielberg is interested in you for a movie he saw you in the show,'" Antoon recalled.
That movie was "Minority Report," the 2002 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise. It was a whirlwind experience for Antoon who got his first taste of Hollywood working on that film. "Four months later I'm meeting Tom Cruise and Spielberg for the first time on my first day. And this was my first movie," he said on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show." His performance gained him recognition in the industry, and Antoon — who is Lebanese-American — landed several roles as the whacky scientist of characters with varying backgrounds. "After I did 'Minority Report,' I was like, I'm the Lebanese Jack Black!" he told Salon in 2017.
Keep reading to see what popular television shows Antoon has appeared on through the years.
The female mob show Jason Antoon co-starred on
After leaving the stage for the silver screen, Jason Antoon showed up in a variety of popular television series including "Sex and the City," "Law & Order," "Modern Family," "Fresh Off the Boat," and many more, as his IMDb credits were peppered with both film and television roles. One of the actor's most enduring small screen roles was as Dr. Ken Brickman on the TNT show "Claws" — a female-driven drama about manicurists who use their business to launder money, per Salon.
Antoon pointed out how the show differed from traditional crime dramas. "'Claws' is the reverse 'Sopranos,'" he told Salon in 2017. "The writers made a decision that it's all about these five amazing female leads ... all getting entangled in crime and forming this crazy mob," Antoon added. This led to his Dr. Brickman character acting as an outsider. "It's like any time a guy enters, he's a disease," Antoon said. The seasoned actor admitted he was happy to land the role later in his career. "It's like [the] way you meet your wife later in life and you know who you are," he told the outlet.