It’s hard to picture anyone other than Mark Harmon playing Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS, but several other very talent actors were also considered for the role!
The 74-year-old Emmy-nominated actor played the iconic character on the JAG spinoff series for 19 seasons, becoming the second to last original series regular to depart the show.
In a feature from The Hollywood Reporter on the long-running and hit CBS drama series, creators Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill, as well as several executives revealed that there were other names before Mark‘s who were mentioned for the part.
Find out who will be playing Gibbs in an upcoming NCIS: Origins prequel series!
CHRIS COOPER
Chris Cooper is best known for his roles in American Beauty, The Bourne Identity and October Sky.
He won an Oscar for Adaptation in 2003.
VAL KILMER
Val Kilmer is best known for Top Gun and Real Genius.
PATRICK SWAYZE
The late Patrick Swayze was also considered. He passed away in 2009.
TOM BERENGER
Tom Berenger is known for Platoon, for which he won an Oscar, and Major League.
KEVIN BACON
Kevin Bacon also could’ve been Gibbs, and is best known to fans from Footloose, Tremors and Mystic River.
CLIVE OWEN
Clive Owen was another name considered for Gibbs. Fans will know him from Close My Eyes, Children of Men and The International.
ALEC BALDWIN
Alec Baldwin was in contention for the part.
AIDAN QUINN
Aidan Quinn is best known from Desperately Seeking Susan, Benny & Joon and Practical Magic.
CHARLIE SHEEN
Charlie Sheen also could’ve been Gibbs.
ANDREW MCCARTHY
Andrew McCarthy apparently had a leg up in the casting process.
“Andrew McCarthy at one point was in the mix for Gibbs. He and Don Bellisario met and talked over the role,” Don McGill told the outlet.
HARRISON FORD
Harrison Ford was included on the list just because he was Harrison Ford.
“I know Harrison Ford was a name that everybody thought about for Gibbs because he was so perfect. But I don’t think it ever got further than, it was a name thrown out,” Charles Floyd Johnson, executive producer on JAG and NCIS, shared.
Peter Golden, former head of CBS casting, added that “Harrison Ford — when you sit down, and you have an initial conversation about casting, no name is off the table. Back in the early 2000s, the Harrison Fords of the world [rarely did TV]. But that didn’t mean you didn’t put them on the list.”
The producers and creators in conversation admitted that after all those names dropped on the list, there was no one else like Mark Harmon for the part.
“Mark Harmon just made a big impression,” Charles Floyd Johnson shared.
Susan Bluestein, NCIS casting director, said that casting the part of Gibbs, and the other characters was “very challenging. I cast Mark Harmon to play John Dillinger in a movie of the week in 1991, and he was terrific. Mark had been on my NCIS list from day one. I always felt like Mark really had the gravitas for this character.”
Peter Golden added that when Susan mentioned him, “Mark was a big deal, and everybody thought, ‘We’ll make an offer to Mark Harmon, and when we don’t get him, let’s go through the list of who else we could get.’”
“Mark had a meeting with Don Bellisario, and they hit it off, and Mark agreed to do it. All of a sudden, the show took on much more importance in my mind.”
