What Inspired NCIS: ORIGINS? Mark Harmon’s Son Explains
By Movieguide® Contributor
Beloved NCIS character Leroy Jethro Gibbs is returning to the franchise in a new series.
NCIS: ORIGINS will air next month and focus on a young Gibbs at the start of his career.
“The idea for the series came from [Mark] Harmon’s son Sean, who’d played the younger Gibbs in NCIS flashbacks,” TV Insider reported.
NCIS: ORIGINS “follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs as he starts his career as part of the Naval Investigative Service operating out of Camp Pendleton,” per IMDb.
“I believe that very few people are actually ‘born leaders’ and are instead forged into them, and Gibbs is no exception. Digging into the backstory of ‘the boss’ seemed like a good opportunity to find out why Gibbs turned out the way he did and who was around to influence him on that journey,” Sean Harmon said of ORIGINS.
Special Agent Mike Franks, played by Kyle Schmid in the new series, is instrumental in making Gibbs the leader fans love in NCIS.
“Franks is the one who brings Gibbs into NIS. It was an opportunity to perhaps save a lost soul. Taking on a character played by such a wonderful actor is a bit of a challenge. 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,” the actor joked.
Along with Schmid, ORIGINS stars Austin Stowell as Gibbs, Caleb Foote as Agent Randy and Mariel Molino as Special Agent Cecilia Dominguez. Mark Harmon will return to narrate.
While ORIGINS dives into NCIS’ backstory, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach says that it’s “really different than any of the other NCIS’s.”
“It makes me feel so old to say it’s period when it’s set in the ‘90s, kill me now, right?” she added. “It’s a little edgier and grittier than previous NCIS’s, it’s got a serialized element of it that we’re really excited about. And whereas I would say NCIS: SYDNEY too really had its own identity, it was very uniquely Australian and told stories that can only be told in Australia, so I feel like they’re both opportunities to gain new audiences while also being true to the DNA and loyal fan base of those shows.”
NCIS: ORIGINS will premiere Monday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Movieguide® previously reported on ORIGINS:
NCIS: ORIGINS showrunner Mark D. Cross is giving fans of the franchise a sneak peek at what they can expect from the prequel series…
“They don’t know as much as they think they do,” Cross said of NCIS’ fans. “Seeing Gibbs arrive at NIS on Day 1, and seeing how Gibbs became Gibbs…? You will realize there’s so much to explore.”
Co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal added that NCIS: ORIGINS will delve into Gibbs’ relationship with Michael Franks, a supporting character in the original series.
“It gives Gibbs a different kind of shading than we’ve seen before as a character,” she explained.
Mark Harmon, who originated the role of Gibbs, is set to have a hand in the show — the actor will serve as an executive producer on NCIS: ORIGINS and will narrate the series.
