Mark Harmon Reveals New Look in Photo Before Filming ‘Freaky Friday 2’
Mark Harmon, the beloved actor known for his long-standing role on CBS’s NCIS, has recently been spotted looking nearly unrecognizable. This sighting comes just before Disney announced his return in the highly anticipated sequel, Freaky Friday 2. The 72-year-old actor will join Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in reprising his role as Ryan, Anna’s stepdad, in the sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy. The film is set for release in 2025.
Disney has already shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the project, featuring Curtis and Lohan, who are back as the mother-daughter duo Tess and Anna Coleman. The image shows the two actresses excitedly posing hand-in-hand on set during the first day of filming. Lohan also took to Instagram to post a series of clips from the Freaky Friday 2 set, showcasing her joyful reunion with Curtis. She captioned the post: “We’re back!” Curtis shared the same video montage with her followers, captioning it: “FREAK OUT TIME.”
Meanwhile, Harmon was spotted running errands in Los Angeles, looking much more casual than during his days on NCIS. The U.S. Sun shared photos of the shaggy-haired actor on Monday as he made a trip to the trendy Erewhon Market. He was seen squinting in the bright sun while strolling down the street in a button-down shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. Harmon also recently made a red carpet appearance, where he seemed to have embraced a more relaxed look since leaving his role as Marine Corps sniper turned special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in October 2021.
In Freaky Friday 2, Harmon will appear alongside other familiar faces, including Chad Michael Murray, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Lucille Soong, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Rosalind Chao. The sequel will also introduce new cast members like Julia Butters, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Sophia Hammons. The return of the beloved cast has sparked excitement among fans of the original film. The reunion of Curtis and Lohan, in particular, has been eagerly anticipated. Curtis’s enthusiasm was palpable in her social media posts, and Lohan’s joy at being back on set with her on-screen mother was equally evident.
The original Freaky Friday, released in 2003, became a cult classic, cherished for its humor and heartfelt moments. The sequel aims to recapture that magic, bringing back the characters fans fell in love with and introducing new faces to the dynamic mix. The storyline details are still under wraps, but the involvement of the original cast members suggests that the sequel will stay true to the spirit of the first film while offering fresh twists and turns.
In the 2003 comedy, Jamie Lee Curtis starred as the overworked mother, Tess Coleman, and Lindsay Lohan played her teenage daughter, Anna. The plot revolves around the chaos that ensues when Tess and Anna wake up to discover they have switched bodies. They struggle to live each other’s lives—highlighted by Curtis’s memorable scene playing guitar in a student rock concert—until they find a way to reverse the switch.
In the sequel, adult Anna now has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. “As they navigate the myriad challenges that come with merging two families, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might indeed strike twice,” Disney said in a statement on Monday. Curtis has been a vocal advocate for reuniting the Freaky Friday cast. During an appearance on The View in 2022, she revealed that she had urged Disney to bring back Lindsay Lohan, proposing a storyline in which Lohan’s character, now a young mother, would once again switch bodies with her grandmother Tess.
“So then Lindsay gets to be the glamorous grandma who’s still enjoying her life with Mark Harmon in all the ways one would with Mark Harmon,” Curtis remarked. “Simply put, I’d love to see Lindsay as the stylish grandmother, and I want to explore the challenges of being a helicopter parent in today’s world, myself as an older woman.”
The sequel also features returning cast members from the original film, such as Chad Michael Murray as Anna’s boyfriend Jake, Christina Vidal Mitchell as Maddie, Haley Hudson as Peg, Lucille Soong as Pei-Pei’s Mom, Stephen Tobolowsky as Mr. Bates, and Rosalind Chao as Pei-Pei. Joining the returning crew are newcomers Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto (known for Top Gun: Maverick), and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. Jordan Weiss (Doll Face) is writing the screenplay, and Nisha Ganatra will direct the new Freaky Friday film.
Mark your calendars! The Freaky Friday sequel, directed by Nisha Ganatra, hits theaters next year. Catch up on the original 2003 classic with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, now streaming on Disney+.
Source: The U.S. Sun, Disney Studios, The View
