NCIS: Origins' Austin Stowell Got Feedback From Mark Harmon on the Spot

It didn’t take long for Mark Harmon to share his opinion about Austin Stowell‘s performance as Leroy Gibbs in CBS’ NCIS: Origins.

“He gave it to me right away in the room,” Stowell, 39, quipped during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly. “He was vocal about — maybe not what to do — but certainly [he was] guiding me more in terms of posture and mindset, things that I’ve learned to inhabit all the more over time.”

Stowell noted that Harmon, 73, has “never given” him any notes on his acting, adding, “He leads by example. He’s a guy who I’ve learned a lot more about being a human being than being Gibbs. He’s been so welcoming — not just to me and not just to the rest of the cast, but the whole crew. He’s really such a wonderful leader for us because he makes everybody feel so comfortable.”

Harmon made his NCIS debut as Gibbs in 2003 and played the lead role for 18 years. His final appearance aired in late 2021, and Harmon hasn’t returned to the flagship show since. He did, however, sign on to be the narrator for the prequel series NCIS: Origins and has served as an executive producer on the project alongside his eldest son, Sean Harmon.

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The prequel, which stars Stowell as the titular character, will begin in 1991 and follow the life of a young Gibbs. Harmon made an onscreen appearance during the series premiere, giving viewers a few glimpses of the fan-favorite character in the present day.

“It’s a daunting task to recreate Gibbs and to go back and try to tell this story while being respectful to the fans and to the story line of the original show,” Stowell told Us. “We want to do our best job as actors, as artists, as writers and storytellers. While there could be a lot of pressure, Mark Harmon makes us feel so comfortable and he makes us feel justified in our decisions.”

Stowell’s approach to playing Gibbs was somewhat simple — he just had to create his own version.

“Mark Harmon created this character that the world fell in love with. He did that for 20 years. I would be a fool not to try to take some of what he did and bring it to this version of Gibbs. But it would’ve been a mistake just to try to do an imitation of who he is as an actor and as a man that it just didn’t appeal to me to do that,” he explained. “I had to pluck out what mannerisms were going to be innate because there are certain body movements and just the way that Mark speaks. There’s a certain pacing and volume to his speaking that is so unique to who he is. I certainly tried to inhabit some of those.”

He continued: “But it was more interesting to me what characteristics and what behaviors were going to be learned by Gibbs over the years. So that will be so much fun to allow those behaviors to blossom and allow the fans to see them come to life.”

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While NCIS: Origins is a prequel of the original CBS hit, the new addition to the franchise is able to stand on its own.

“You don’t need to see the original show in order to watch ours. You don’t need to know a single thing about it. Will it sometimes be a bit more fun because you get to see Easter eggs that someone who hasn’t seen the show would find? Yes, absolutely,” Stowell explained. “But there’s also times where there’s knowledge that fans of the show will know that newbies would not. So you could be a probie on these episodes too and actually have it be new and exciting to you because you won’t know what’s coming up ahead.”

Stowell has loved the vision behind NCIS: Origins, adding, “There’s been a formula to NCIS for a long time and that works. But it’s our job to push the limit so with this new show, we are trying to get a little bit more into perspective. We are getting at what makes these characters who they are, how they became the characters that we see on the show 20 years later.”

Digging deep meant channeling more emotions in addition to solving the case of the week.

“We had to get more down into the emotional level, got more personal, got more raw and we are just hoping that audiences enjoy that inner journey. It’s been a really tricky but fun line to try and tiptoe,” Stowell noted. “I love the way that our writers have created our show and kind of allow us to live in both worlds. That this is all a memory of Gibbs’ and this is him writing in this journal 30 years later.”

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Stowell broke down to Us how the set up of the prequel keeps things fresh.

“These memories — while they might be something that he’s replayed over and over in his head — that reality can get skewed over time. That allows us the freedom to tell the stories that we want, because this is something that he’s obviously kept hidden,” the actor shared. “So what is it that happened? Why has this story never been told? Why did he keep it a secret and why has he just now decided to tell this? I don’t know. It’s not like I have the answers to the secrets here.”

NCIS: Origins airs on CBS Mondays at 10 p.m. ET and is currently streaming on Paramount+.