Once Shane Harper donned a plaid shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and tightened his belt buckle at the camera test for NCIS: New York, he got the gist of just exactly who Special Agent Wyatt Sellers was.
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Sellers → don → gist
Hailing from Alaska and arriving in New York on the heels of his fiancée leaving him, Wyatt has a “built-in dynamic of loss in his life” that he’s “trying to come back from” in the latest NCIS spin-off, Harper told DECIDER during a visit to our studio this week.
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Harper → hail → studio
“I think you immediately get a sense for who he is as a character as a result of that,” he explained.
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he → think → that
“It also adds to this idea that he’s kind of a fish out of water.”
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he → add → water
Another integral aspect of Wyatt’s character is his nickname, “Milkman,” bestowed upon him by his colleague Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan).
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aspect → bestow → colleague
Why, you might ask?
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you → ask → ?
As Nick informs Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) in the pilot while introducing the squad, Wyatt drank “20 ounces of whole milk in a glass” while out to dinner with the team.
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Wyatt → inform → team
As for whether Harper had the pleasure of drinking such excessive quantities of milk on set, he recalled doing so for a scene that ultimately didn’t air.
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that → drink → scene
“We had, like, 20 minutes of extra footage from the pilot that had to get cut—which was a good thing, [because it] means there was a lot of great stuff.
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it → have → stuff
But there’s a scene that got cut at the end,” he elaborated.
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he → ’ → end
“We’d just taken the bad guys down, and we’re all just kind of like relaxing after a long day, and I pour this giant glass of milk, and I chug the whole thing.
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I → take → thing
We filmed that, and it’s not in the pilot.
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it → film → pilot
I had to drink like four or five glasses of it.
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I → have → it
But you know, I’m committed to my craft, I guess.”
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I → know → craft
For more on whether fans can expect sparks to fly between Wyatt and Special Agent Addy Ross (Jacquelie Byers), the “natural” chemistry between Harper and his co-stars, and his thoughts on the “iconic” Good Luck Charlie diss track about his character Spencer Walsh, check out our full conversation with Harper below.
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sparks → expect → Harper
When viewers are introduced to your character, Special Agent Wyatt Sellers, he’s attempting to return an engagement ring.
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he → introduce → ring
And we learned that his fiance had left him.
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fiance → learn → him
What was your reaction to learning about Wyatt’s backstory when you got the role, and will we learn more about this past relationship with his?
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we → learn → his
I like that there’s this kind of built-in dynamic of loss in his life, and he’s trying to come back from it and figure it out.
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he → like → it
I think you immediately get a sense for who he is as a character as a result of that.
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he → think → that
It also adds to this idea that he’s kind of a fish out of water.
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he → add → water
He’s from Alaska and he has only been in New York City for 10 months, and 10 months is not long enough to get a grip on New York.
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months → ’ → York
You need a little bit longer than that, I think.
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I → need → that
So I think all of that built in just to the pilot for me was like enough to kind of get started.
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all → think → me
And then once they threw me in those plaid shirts, I was like, “Okay, I know who this guy is.”
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guy → throw → shirts
I remember we were doing our camera test—like our makeup test and outfit test for the show before we started filming—and they gave me this big belt buckle to put on.
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they → remember → buckle
I was like, I think I know who this guy is.
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guy → think → ?
The clothes inform a lot of what we do.
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we → inform → what
You put it on, and you immediately feel in character.
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you → put → character
Yeah, I was like, okay, I got the rolled up sleeves of the plaid shirt, the belt buckle.
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I → get → shirt
I’m like, he is from Alaska.
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he → ’m → Alaska
I feel it.
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I → feel → it
I get it.
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I → get → it
Wyatt is also called “Milkman” by Nick and his team for having milk as his drink of choice while out to dinner.
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Wyatt → call → dinner
Is this something that you can identify with personally, and did you have to drink any milk over the course of shooting?
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you → identify → shooting
Or have you gotten to yet?
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you → get → ?
I’m glad we can touch on the milk.
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we → ’m → milk
We’ll just get it out in the room.
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We → get → room
I really loved milk when I was a kid.
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I → love → milk
I mean, I’ll get milk in my coffee.
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I → mean → coffee
…and 152 more, not listed.
The Aporia
