McCallum might be too busy for U.N.C.L.E. movie cameo

David McCallum in 1965 publicity still with Thrush women, including Sharon Tate

Thanks to @Laneyboggs2001 who pointed out the Omaha article to this blog via Twitter.

David McCallum, the original Illya Kuryakin and who was scheduled to be in Omaha ON NOV. 9 for a special showing of The Great Escape, gave an INTERVIEW to the Omaha World Herald. The interview suggests, but doesn’t definitively say, he might be too busy to do a cameo for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie.

The 80-year-old actor is busy on the NCIS series, a Los Angeles-based production, while the movie’s home base is Warner Bros. Leavesden studio in the U.K. Here’s an excerpt:

Q. What’s the shooting schedule like?

A: It’s an eight-day shoot (for each episode). This week I’m on set four of eight days. I’ve done 7.5. Normally it’s two or three.
(snip)

Q. What’s life like when you’re not shooting the series or jetting off to Omaha?

A. There’s not much else. I do get to New York to see my children and grandchildren. It’s a busy world, and I’m a busy person. I also do voiceover work for video games and cartoons.

Q. Any projects on the horizon you want to talk about?

A. I’ve got 18 or 19 more “NCIS” shows to do (this season). That’s pretty much it.

If there was an NCIS episode where McCallum’s Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard character doesn’t appear that much, the actor could conceivably jet over for an U.N.C.L.E. cameo. However, time is starting to draw short; the Guy Ritchie-directed U.N.C.L.E. movie, starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, will wrap production sometime next month.

Of course, if the cameo were voice over only, the logistics might be less complicated. Also, it’s possible the actor is simply being cagey.

Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo in the 1964-68 series, said in AN OCTOBER BIRMINGHAM MAIL STORY he had gotten feelers about a cameo. Vaughn is already in the U.K. for a stage production of 12 Angry Men. There’s been no news whether a Vaughn cameo has, or will, occur.

Soderbergh tells Omaha audience he’s still interested in U.N.C.L.E.

Director Steven Soderbergh, during an appearance in Omaha, said he’s still interested in doing a movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as a farewell to making films, according to an account by the Omaha World-Herald.

Soderbergh apparently only made a fleeting mention in Omaha. Here’s an excerpt from near the end of the Omaha newspaper article:

His last movie, he said, might be the big-screen version of “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” starring George Clooney. He called movies with Damon and Clooney, both of whom have worked with him many times, “a great way to have a farewell tour.”

This would appear to be the first time Soderbergh has openly, and publicly, acknowledged his interest in doing an U.N.C.L.E. movie as his last film. Soderbergh’s interest was originally reported by the Hollywood Reporter in November. But that report didn’t have a direct comment by Soderbergh.

Clooney has been previously mentioned in connection with a Soderbergh version of U.N.C.L.E. Does Soderbergh’s quote indicate he’s interested in having Damon be part of the movie also?