Although Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs was played by Harmon’s son Sean for a handful of NCIS flashbacks over the years, Austin Stowell was selected last year to take over as the younger version of the character for NCIS: Origins. The prequel series returns for Season 2 this October on the 2025 TV schedule, and there’s quite a bit that early 1990s Gibbs will have to deal with following the shocking Season 1 finale. Ahead of that premiere, Origins co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal explained why Stowell was a worthy successor for Harmon in the CBS procedural franchise, and it’s making me more excited for Season 2.
Monreal, who shares showrunning duties on NCIS: Origins with David J. North, discussed the thought that went into casting the young Leroy Jethro Gibbs while speaking with TVLine. When asked what she felt was the “most Gibbs” or “most Mark Harmon” about Austin Stowell, she answered:
He did a lot of research in watching old episodes, and I will say physically, there are things that he does that are so Mark’s Gibbs. Like, he'll hold his jaw a certain way, or Mark does a thing sometimes after he'll say a line that he's really adamant about. He'll do a little nod, like that. Austin does that as well.
NCIS: Origins starts following Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the fall of 1991, when he’s just joined NIS and is several months separated from the murder of his wife and daughter (though flashbacks did show him learning the devastating news and exacting revenge on Pedro Hernandez). So while he’s a ways off from becoming the team leader we know from the original NCIS, Stowell’s Gibbs is also old enough to have these physical quirks long-ingrained in his being. From Gina Lucita Monreal’s perspective, Austin Stowell does a great job replicating said quirks that Mark Harmon did when he was playing Gibbs.
Additionally, the co-showrunner thought Stowell also pulled off that delicate balance of exuding both strength and pain that we so often saw Harmon do as the older Gibbs. As Monreal explained:
But the thing that really made me feel like Austin embodied who the character is that he had this balance of being broken and being strong at the same time. And that to me is a really hard line to walk. Austin does that in a masterful way. I think it's just part of who he is as a human and as an actor, and we were so lucky to find him.
I was already impressed enough with Austin Stowell’s portrayal of Gibbs in NCIS: Origins Season 1, but hearing this fresh round of praise from Gina Lucita Monreal has me looking forward to Season 2’s arrival more than I already was. And more of Gibbs developing into the man viewers met in 2003 is just the start of what’s coming up in the next season. We’ll also learn the fate of Lala Dominguez after she was caught in that car crash, see Mike Franks reunite with his brother, and witness the big plans in store for Cliff Wheeler.
NCIS: Origins Season 2 will premiere Tuesday, October 14 at 9 pm ET, sandwiched between NCIS Season 23 and NCIS: Sydney Season 3. Before those come out, the new spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva will begin its run exclusively on Paramount+ starting Thursday, September 4.
