As NCIS fans know, Leroy Jethro Gibbs has a set of rules. And they’re very much part of his story in the prequel. “My wife believed we all should have a code to live by, a set of rules,” Mark Harmon says in a voiceover on NCIS: Origins. “And I believed in her. So for years, I wrote my own rules down on napkins, scraps of paper. I followed all of them to the letter.”
And so when Austin Stowell, who plays the young Gibbs, came into TV Insider’s office during the first half of the season, we had to find out whether some of those rules more so apply to him or the version of the character he’s playing.
Rule 3, “Don’t believe what you’re told, double check”? “This is so introspective. I feel like I’m in a therapy session all of a sudden,” he said with a grin. “I would say that at this point, this pertains more to Gibbs than to me, that I’ve got some very trusty voices in my head right now — one of them being Mark Harmon, who’s been a sage to me during this time. I mean, this is somebody who literally did this for 20 years and so he’s getting to give me the inside scoop on how to go about my life right now. First and foremost, telling me that sleep is overrated.”
Rule 4 — “The best way to keep a secret: Keep it to yourself. Second best: Tell one person—if you must. There is no third best.” — very much applied to Gibbs at the time of the interview, after Episode 7, Stowell pointed out, as he worried about more people finding out he killed Pedro Hernandez, the man who murdered his family.
The star also said that Rule 23 (“Never mess with a Marine’s coffee if you want to live”) pertains more to himself as he takes on the role of Gibbs — though he teased that might change.
Watch the full video above for more of Stowell’s takes on some of Gibbs’ rules and the piece of advice Harmon gave him before he left his audition.
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