Fans are preparing to turn back the clock to 1991 when they set their televisions to the newest NCIS show, NCIS: Origins. The show will feature a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell. Originally played by Mark Harmon for the first 19 seasons of the NCIS flagship show, Harmon will also narrate the prequel series. Gibbs is fresh from the marines and his time in Desert Storm, as well as reeling from the loss of his family: his wife Shannon and his daughter, Kelly. Their tragic deaths were something that haunted Gibbs in the original NCIS series from the pilot and beyond.
Now we're getting a look at preparations made ahead of the prequel series. According to TVInsider, Stowell watched old episodes of NCIS in order to get into the character of Gibbs. Part of those preparations also included getting to know Harmon. He says "getting to know Mark has really been paramount to me stepping into these shoes and trying to fill them." Gibbs is known for many, many rules in the original series, but Harmon seemed to have just one for Stowell: “trust yourself.”
Harmon says that it's always challenging to take on the role of a pre-existing character played, especially for as long as Harmon did, by another actor. The prequel series, however, is an advantage in Harmon's eyes. He says "because some things are already in place and an audience knows where this leads years ahead." Gibbs would move from his time at NIS at the Camp Pendleton office in California (the precursor agency to NCIS) and eventually move to the D.C. area to lead his own team of "probies" (the show's term for rookie based on the word probationary).
A Pivotal NCIS Character Returns to NCIS: Origins
Gibbs often references Mike Franks as a pivotal influence in his life during the flagship series. He was played by Muse Watson in the series and in Origins, Franks is played by Kyle Schmid. "Franks is the one who brings Gibbs into NIS." Schmid explains. "It was an opportunity to perhaps save a lost soul." Schmid also took the time to go straight to the source for his character research, recalling emails and conversations exchanged between him and Watson. "Taking on a character played by such a wonderful actor is a bit of a challenge," Schmid says.
"You have to play by a certain set of rules. The mustache is a trademark of Muse’s. I wear dark brown contacts every day at work. I took on a dialect coach, so Kyle Schmid now sounds like Mike Franks all the time."
Gibbs Still Has Lessons to Learn in NCIS: Origins
Image via CBS
According to co-showrunner David North, the first case is a series of interconnected murders “that bounce off of our characters in a really emotional way,” North says. Co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal says, “Gibbs is thrown into this job and he’s in over his head, but in a way, this case is tailor-made for him, so he has an opportunity to shine.” Gibbs will not be exempt from the case getting to him. "The Gibbs that Gina and I [David] wrote for so many years had learned to push it all that emotion down. This Gibbs hasn’t learned that yet." Gibbs was not one to shy away from anger, but it's very possible that, because the deaths of his wife and daughter are still so fresh, as well as his time in combat, we'll see him exercising a different set of emotions that he forces himself to push down in the years to come.
NCIS: Origins' two-hour premiere is on October 14 on CBS. Catch up on NCIS now on Paramount+
