A South Kitsap High School graduate will star in a new television series this fall on CBS.
Zoe McLellan, who graduated in 1992, is part of cast of “NCIS: New Orleans” — a new show that also stars Lucas Black, Scott Bakula and CCH Pounder.
The show — directed by Mark Harmon — will premiere on Sept. 23.
According to CBS, the television series is a drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases affecting military personnel in “The Big Easy,” a city known for its music, entertainment and decadence.
Leading the team is Special Agent Dwayne Pride (Bakula), a native of New Orleans who is driven by his need to do what is right. Working with Pride is Special Agent Christopher LaSalle (Black), who plays hard but works harder; and Special Agent Meredith “Merri” Brody (McLellan), a charismatic and tough interrogator who transferred from the Great Lakes office in search of a fresh start. Supporting them is coroner Dr. Loretta Wade (Pounder), who is as eccentric as she is smart.
This is not the first appearance for McLellan on TV. She had starring roles as Petty Officer Jennifer Coates in “JAG” and Lisa George on ABC’s “Dirty Sexy Money.” Additional television credits include guest appearances in “The Mentalist” and “NCIS,” “House M.D.,” “Sliders” and “Star Trek: Voyager,” according to IMdb.com.
The 5-foot-7 McLellan also made a guest appearances on Diagnosis: Murder, (the episode “Blood Ties”).
She has also appeared in several films including “Dungeons and Dragons,” “Stranger in my House,” “Stonebrook,” “Reunion,” “Inventing the Abbotts,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” “Conversations with God” and the short film “Person, Place, or Thing.”
On the stage, McLellan starred in “Very Truly Yours,” “Motherlove” and “Control Freaks.” As a singer, McLellan performed her original songs in the cabaret show “L’efflueur des Sens” and recorded the song “Angels and Apples.”
McLellan was born on Nov. 6, 1974, in La Jolla, Calif., and raised in Washington. During her senior year at SKHS, McLellan was a member of the Performing Arts Department. In the 1992 yearbook, McLellan said, “I get a rush being on stage, but being in “Death of a Salesman” was the biggest rush because I was playing a character who was opposite of me in real life. Theatre is an escape for me. I don’t think of it as work.”
She married J.P. Gillain in February 2012 and the couple has one child. Gillain filed for divorce earlier this year.
In 2008, she posed for Allure Magazine.
In an interview with HerCampus.com, McLellan said after graduating high school, she moved to Portland and went to a talent agency with a headshot and high school theatre. She said her first audition was for “America’s Most Wanted.”
McLellan played a murder victim in the episode and they found the killer after the show aired.
