Mark Harmon andNCIS: OriginsStar Austin Stowell Go Inside the Prequel Series: 'We're a Family Already' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Mark Harmon and Austin Stowell on July 13.Photo:Sonja Flemming/CBS

Austin Stowell and Mark Harmon portrait 7/13/2024

Sonja Flemming/CBS

WhenMark Harmonfirst read the guest role of Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs onJAGin 2003, one thing stood out immediately.

Now, a fifth,NCIS: Origins, set in 1991, follows young Gibbs.

“It’s anNCIS-verse you haven’t seen before,” saysAustin Stowell, 39, who inherits the character. Harmon, executive producing and narrating the new series — andappearing in its debut episodeon Oct. 14 on CBS — agrees. “We’re not trying to do something over again.”

For Stowell, leading a highly anticipated network prequel is “the opportunity of a lifetime.” Watching the two-part premiere, he tells PEOPLE, proved emotional. “I was a mess at the end of it.”

To breathe new life into an iconic character, Stowell “had to become Gibbs’ biggest fan,” he adds. Luckily, in Harmon, he had a mentor with a lot of experience. Ahead of the Monday, Oct. 14 premiere, PEOPLE caught up with the duo for a sneak peek atNCIS: Origins.

PEOPLE: Mark, what do you remember about casting Austin as a 1991-era Leroy Jethro Gibbs?HARMON:I felt the room jump a little when Austin came in, before he said anything. He walked out and someone said, “I’ll just say it, that’s a movie star.” And there was heavy competition there. There were a lot of good [actors in contention].

Austin, what about your introduction to your character?STOWELL:If I can start imagining myself as [a character], in their shoes, then I know it’s working. I read the first episode, and right away there were lots of parallels to my life. I knew the show, I knew the character — not as intimately as I do now — but just as I started to turn the pages, I had these moments over and over again, saying, “Oh, I know this guy.”

Austin Stowell and Mark Harmon on May 2.Monica Schipper/Getty

Austin Stowell and Mark Harmon attend CBS' Fall Schedule Celebration at Paramount Studios on May 02, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Monica Schipper/Getty

Does that ever feel daunting?STOWELL:No, it’s not. It only means I have to come to that level. And that’s okay with me. I like reaching for a bar that’s higher, that fuels me when I get out of bed in the morning. The fact that I know that there’s 300 million people out there who are waiting to see what this is only makes me fight harder and make me want to fulfill their expectations.HARMON:He’s got his eye on the ball. In some ways, it gets bigger every day, the responsibility of it. But right now he’s just trying to make the work be the best it can be every day. That’s got really nothing to do with what you do in acting class. It’s got more to do with who you are as a human being.STOWELL:I got to be writing all this down! This is another part of the value that Mark brings to the table is that he comes and talks to all of us… Immediately, I store all that in my head. I’ve never been on a show like this. I’ve never been a [number one on the call sheet] before. This is all brand new to me. So he comes to offer that kind of advice and that immediately, I store all that in my head.

What is the Origins shooting schedule like?HARMON:They’re working long hours right now. They’re working night hours. It’s all part of it.STOWELL:You’re going to work every day. I wake up, I train, learn my lines, go to set. Wash, rinse, repeat, Monday through Friday.HARMON:And you get questions like, “Well, how do you handle that?“STOWELL:You just do.

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Austin Stowell on ‘NCIS: Origins’.Greg Gayne/CBS

CIS: ORIGINS follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell)

Greg Gayne/CBS

What is your favorite thing about creating this new show?STOWELL:We’ve all worked really hard at this and we’re trying to get it right. It looks beautiful. I [am] just really happy for all of our crew, that it’s going to be something that we’re all going to be proud of… I’ve gotten to know them, so many, really intimately, I know about their kids and their plans for the weekends. It’s not lost on me that a big part of that responsibility is to keep everybody at work. I like that responsibility. It gives me great purpose. I don’t just go to work for me, I go to work with everyone… I’ve been able to concentrate on what I need to concentrate on because I do feel like I have a safety net.HARMON:When I was selling shoes, I used to always look at my watch and I’d go, “Lost four hours today. Where are we going to make that up?” Guess what? At a certain point you stop looking at your watch. Maybe sleep is a little overrated. You care about your crew… You walk on the set, you can feel it.STOWELL:We’re a family already.HARMON:And if you can bring that to it too, what Austin’s talking about, then you venture into the territory of something special and it becoming a little more than a job. This is a place where everybody’s busting their tail because they want it to be good. It’s not about a paycheck.

NCIS: Originspremieres Monday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. Episodes will also stream on Paramount+.

source: people.com