Mark Harmon Reveals How He Really Feels About Austin Stowell
By Movieguide® Contributor
NCIS: ORIGINS premiered this week, and in honor of the show, stars Mark Harmon and Austin Stowell spoke to PEOPLE about their roles.
Mark Harmon starred as the original Gibbs in NCIS. In the new spin-off which is set to take place in the 90’s, Stowell stars as a young Gibbs and is start as an investigator.
“It’s an NCIS-verse you haven’t seen before,” Stowell said of the show.
In the interview with PEOPLE, Mark Harmon shared the first time Stowell came to the show. “I felt the room jump a little when Austin came in, before he said anything. He walked out and someone said, ‘I’ll just say it, that’s a movie star.’ And there was heavy competition there. There were a lot of good [actors in contention],” he said.
Stowell explained how he found a lot of similarities between himself and the character, making it an easy role to step into.
“If I can start imagining myself as [a character], in their shoes, then I know it’s working,” he said. “I read the first episode, and right away there were lots of parallels to my life. I knew the show, I knew the character — not as intimately as I do now — but just as I started to turn the pages, I had these moments over and over again, saying, ‘Oh, I know this guy.’”
Stowell explained that he also did he best to honor the character Harmon embodied, and he did what he could to fit into the role.
“I knew I had something that I could bring to the character that was very real, that was palpable,” Stowell explained. “But I also knew that I was stepping into a character that was creative, created and filled out and beloved by this guy for 20 years. And I wanted to pay homage to his acting talent. So I wasn’t doing an impression, but I was trying to encapsulate who I thought Mark was. And I do that every day now. He leads by example.”
He added, “We’re all here because of him.”
Harmon’s son, Sean Harmon portrayed a young Gibbs on seven episodes of NCIS, but won’t reprise the role as he’s become an executive producer for the prequel series.
“He’s an actor, writer, producer a surfer, he does a lot of things. You have to come to decisions about what you want to do in life, or what you think’s important. I just think he made a choice and had to make a decision in some ways,” Harmon said of why his son didn’t step back into the role. “He likes executive producing.”
MOVIEGUIDE® previously reported on the new series:
“NCIS fans have more than just a new spin-off to look forward to. It has been confirmed that legendary NCIS star Mark Harmon will make a few reappearances in NCIS: ORIGINS… Showrunners David J. North and Gina Montreal revealed to TV Line, “As the creators of the show, we viewed Gibbs telling his own story as an enormous opportunity to actually get into the head of one of the most iconic, enigmatic characters ever… As far as how we’re getting this peek behind the curtain — meaning, in what way exactly is our beloved Gibbs telling us his story? — that will be answered on October 14th.”