NCIS: Origins Star Explains Why He Almost Turned Down Playing Young Gibbs

Aug 12, 2026 - 07:05

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NCIS: Origins Star Explains Why He Almost Turned Down Playing Young Gibbs

Young Gibbs wearing brown jacket and light blue collared shirt, standing in front of a house

Published Aug 11, 2026, 10:41 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots.

NCIS: Origins star Austin Stowell nearly passed on playing the young Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

In 2024, three years after Mark Harmon made his final appearance as Gibbs on NCIS, Stowell debuted as the younger take on the character on NCIS: Origins. Sean Harmon, Mark’s son, had previously played Gibbs during his time as a Marine, and this prequel series follows him during his first years working at NCIS, originally called NIS. However, Stowell initially wasn’t interested in playing Gibbs in Origins because of an aversion to network television.

While appearing on Partners & Probies, Stowell recalled to hosts Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover how he received the script for NCIS: Origins’ pilot in an email after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike ended in 2023, but deleted it. That’s because he’d “kept saying no for years and years to network TV,” both because he “wanted to do films” and was concerned that he might not get along with one of his co-stars on a show he might be locked into for years. Stowell continued:

So I was afraid more than anything, and [NCIS: Origins creators] David North and Gina Monreal were insistent on meeting with me, talking to me. And so we got on a call, and they convinced me in that call. As I heard them talk about Gibbs, I realized how right I was for it, and how right I was for it at that moment in my life.

Prior to NCIS: Origins, Stowell’s credits included movies like Whiplash, Bridge of Spies, Battle of the Sexes, and 12 Strong, and TV shows like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Catch-22, Keep Breathing, and Three Women. With Origins, he overcame the “self awareness” that had been steering him away from network TV after being persuaded by North and Monreal. Now he’s the lead of a show that’s part of one of the most popular procedural franchises, following his previous guest spot in an early episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.

Stowell’s cast-mates on NCIS: Origins include Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks, Mariel Molino as Lala Dominguez, Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf, Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes, and Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland. Along with executive producing the series with his son, Harmon narrates Origins as the older Gibbs. He additionally made on-camera appearances as the character in the pilot and the season 2 episode “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

NCIS: Origins season 2 concluded on May 6, while season 3 had already been renewed in January. Along with NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen joining as an executive producer following Monreal’s exit, Harmon will reprise Gibbs in an active role in every episode this upcoming season. However, Origins season 3 will only comprise 10 episodes, with NCIS: Sydney season 4 taking over its new timeslot during the 2027-2028 midseason period.

NCIS: Origins season 3 premieres Tuesday, October 6 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, after NCIS and the latest spinoff, NCIS: New York. The entirety of the NCIS franchise can be streamed on Paramount+.

Release Date October 14, 2024

Directors Niels Arden Oplev, John Terlesky, Diana Valentine, Edward Ornelas, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Lionel Coleman, Loren Yaconelli, Pete Chatmon, Pamela Romanowsky, Ruben Garcia, Jessica Lowrey

Writers Brendan Fehily