By India McCarty
Mark Harmon might not be playing Gibbs anymore, but the actor has taken one of the NCIS character’s famous bits of advice to heart.
“‘Carry a knife’ is a good one for me,” the actor said during an episode of the “NCIS: Partners & Probies” podcast.
Gibbs was well known for dispensing various “rules” throughout his time on NCIS, from “Never get personally involved in a case” to “sometimes you’re wrong.”
“You’d be surprised how useful it is,” Harmon said of carrying a knife with him. However, he did warn listeners to be aware of when they have it on them — “You can forget this sometimes when you’re getting on an airplane, and then they take your little pocketknife, and then it’s gone, which has happened, too.”
Related: Mark Harmon Returns to NCISverse — But Not How You Might Think
Harmon has shared a lot about his time on NCIS over the years, including his longtime friendship with retired NCIS Special Agent Leon Carroll Jr., who spent 21 seasons as the show’s technical advisor.
“From the very, very beginning, I met Leon, and I spent a lot of time with him on set,” he told Fox News. “Some of that time, sometimes a lot of that time, was sitting in two chairs watching the setup of a shot and talking about this agency. For me, it was a deep dig from the very first day.”
Harmon explained that it was “my responsibility” to accurately portray as NCIS agent, and took his conversations with Caroll seriously.
“I’m humbled by my appreciation of Leon as an individual and what he’s done in his life and what he’s accomplished,” he said. “And also, this TV show, in a different way, presented to this agency opportunities that were never apparent before.”
Harmon and Caroll went on to write several books together, including their most recent, Ghost of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy.
“The history of World War II has always been fascinating to me, and there have been many books written,” Harmon told PEOPLE of the book. “The Office of Naval Intelligence/ONI played a huge part in the invasion and new details uncovered a riveting, complex story. All records were burned after WWII. Why? Read Ghosts of Sicily and find out.”
It looks like playing Gibbs for all those years has rubbed off on Harmon!
Read Next: How Does Mark Harmon Really Feel About NCIS: ORIGINS?
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