Michael Weatherly may play an ex-college jock with a bachelor’s degree on CBS’ hit series “NCIS.” But in real life, Agent Tony DiNozzo’s alter ego was a BU dropout who ended up selling shoes and singing in the subway!

“I had all kinds of ideas at age 18 and none of them included the normal undergrad lifestyle,” said Weatherly, who is in town this week on promotional and personal biz. “The fall of 1986 was incredible - the Red Sox and Mets in the World Series, Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann at the Orpheum. I had to go off and join the circus!”

Naturellement, Weatherly’s ever-so-proper parents, who lived in Beacon Hill’s Louisburg Square at the time, were appalled to learn their preppy progeny wanted to be a performer.

And they weren’t crazy about his stint selling shoes at Lord & Taylor on Boylston Street either!

“I was a disaster area,” said the Brooks School alum, who subsequently dropped out of four colleges. “I was such an embarrassment and a pariah. It was like saying their son was a nudist.”

Even though Michael scored gigs on soap operas and the “Cosby Show,” it wasn’t until uberdirector James Cameron tapped Weatherly for his series, “Dark Angel,” that his parents came around.

“It was some kind of validation that the ‘King of the World’ hired me,” he laughed. “Of course, I immediately took that opportunity to set myself on fire by getting engaged to (the series’ star) Jessica Alba. (They’ve since split.) So I guess you could say I have had a long, sordid, dirty career.”

Anyway, while in town this week, Weatherly, who originally hails from Fairfield, Conn., is promoting “NCIS” and a new series DVD as well as shooting a Boston photo spread on Boston for Watch, a new CBS maggie.

He’s been on Newbury Street and will be headed for Fenway Park, the Union Oyster House and Faneuil Hall today. And this weekend, his big sister, Leigh, will tie the knot here in the Hub.

And for you parents out there who believe in karma, Weatherly has a 10-year-old son, August, who he hoped would be more like his Princeton and Harvard B School-educated Grandpa than his dropout dad.

“I was hoping all of this would skip a generation and he’d be smart and controlled like my dad, but no luck,” he said. “I’ve got Mini Me, a little Dr. Evil. His report card is all check-pluses in the social stuff and check minuses in his classes.”

Doesn’t sound like the U.S. Naval Academy is in Special Agent DiNozzo’s son’s future!

Source: bostonherald.com.