NCIS fans were treated to two Gibbs onscreen in the Origins half of the two-part crossover earlier in 2025: Mark Harmon, who has been narrating the prequel as his present-day version lives in Alaska, appeared to kick off the event.
NCIS: Origins‘ opening scene of the crossover caught up with Gibbs in Alaska, where he had been joined by a dog, before what Austin Stowell, who stars as the character in the ’90s, calls an “incredible” transition from Harmon’s to his version. See it below.
“I was there,” Stowell tells TV Insider. “I was there the first time that [Harmon] shot when he was in the opening of Season 1 because I feel like, ‘This is the guy that created the character that he is Gibbs, and so I want to see everything he does. I would like to see the guy who played Gibbs be Gibbs.’” He laughs as he shares that Harmon told him to leave since he had just worked a long day and also had another ahead of him the next day.
“It was really fun to watch. I think it would be a pretty brash of me if I thought I was going to come in here and just [say], ‘Hey, guys, new Gibbs. That’s it. Turn the page on that guy. I’m here now.’ This is his thing that I’m just trying to keep going. How did he figure out to make this character so enigmatic and magnetic to watch? And so I’ve worked really hard to try and make this something that fans of this show would appreciate and still find watchable, find that magnetism again,” Austin Stowell explains.
The NCIS: Origins star admits it’s hard to see himself as Gibbs in the mirror, “but to watch that transition was very special, very, very special to me. I don’t think the creators of this show, I don’t think the network would’ve done that if they didn’t have some sort of confidence in me. So it was almost like a pat on the back. And for Mark to say yes to it, too. He had to sit there. It’s very difficult. You had to get everything lined up exactly. So they were using laser pointers and using laser measurements to put us exactly in the right spot.
He continues, “It’s about how this version of Gibbs is learning how to create fire. That guy, [Harmon’s version], he held the torch for a long time. What is that spark? What is that thing that makes him this iconic character? I know that those are big shoes to fill and I try not to think in those terms. It’s just how to connect to people. That’s all I kind of think about when I’m going through these scripts is that, ‘How do I make my version of Gibbs connect to people?’”
We are continuing to slowly see Stowell’s version becomes closer to the Gibbs we watched Harmon play for 19 seasons on NCIS. For example, Gibbs on NCIS: Origins learned a rule in the aforementioned crossover, has started to build a boat, and just got married to his future ex-wife Diane (Kathleen Kenny).
