Mark Harmon 2019: Why ‘NCIS’ Season 16 Star Doesn’t Appear in Movie Roles

Mark Harmon has been in the entertainment industry for over 40 years and the actor couldn’t be happier. Most of the time, actors would usually call it quits after years of being in the same TV series.

The most recent example of this is Andrew Lincoln. After leading “The Walking Dead” series for nine years, Lincoln finally called it quits this season as he wanted to be with his family more. Leaving them for seven months at a time to film the post-apocalyptic horror series took a toll on the actor, something that Mark Harmon has fortunately avoided, CheatSheet reported.

The 67-year-old managed to dodge this bullet by opting to not involve himself with movies and settled for TV series instead. Mark Harmon decided on this route early on his career, specifically during the production a certain film.

“I left to do a movie in New Guinea. And our oldest [son] had just taken his first steps the day I left,” Mark Harmon told CBS News. “I came back three months later and he got out of the car by himself and walked up the sidewalk and grabbed onto my leg at the airport. And I turned to my wife and I said, ‘Hate to tell you, but I’m not gonna be doing new movies in New Guinea for the rest of my life to be able to afford the house we’re in, and miss all this.’”

Following that, Mark Harmon took on projects that would allow him to go home every day. And this, in part, contributed to the success of his marriage as well. The actor has been with Pam Dawber for 31 years.

Mark Harmon recently sat down with PEOPLE and told the publication that the secret for his happy marriage has been maturity. Harmon and Dawber were both in their thirties when they got married and their life experiences played a huge role in helping build the foundation of their romance.