When you get two NCIS Gibbs together, you know it’s going to be a good conversation, but I never expected the conversation to go back to their (acting) origins. In hindsight, it seems rather obvious. Thanks to this back-and-forth I was gleefully able to pull some fun trivia that would have even Tony DiNozzo talking. Namely I just found out the absolutely ridiculous way Austin Stowell got his foot in the door in Hollywood before NCIS, and it has to do with an injury.
Mark Harmon’s return in NCIS: Origins is making the 2026 Fall TV schedule feel pretty special for long-time fans, but it’s also bringing up some fun topics between him and Stowell. The two sat down together on “Between Us,” a segment on CBS Mornings. They talked about everything from present day Gibbs to the similar paths that led them both into the acting industry. Then Stowell surprised even Harmon by casually dropping that it was a busted knee that led him to acting. Check out their conversation:
- Austin Stowell: It was football. I got caught up in a tackle. Uh, MCL and meniscus. So that was kinda the end of all that. I played a lot of baseball. I was a pitcher and it was my push-off leg, so I knew everything was changing.
- Mark Harmon: Why acting?
- Austin Stowell: I had always loved performing. That it was something that I felt lit me up. And there was a teacher in high school who encouraged me to follow that - Todd Lampson thanks very much.
While both got their start in sports, Harmon found his way from UCLA quarterback to seeing if he could follow in his Hollywood family’s shoes. His father was broadcaster Tom Harmon and his mother was actress Elyse Knox. This is a slightly different origin story compared to Stowell’s acting start.
After his injury, it was this teacher who told him, “You could really do this,” and he wasn’t wrong. This created a chain of events that Stowell almost said no to, and now he’s three seasons in as Gibbs (with just 20 more to go). This gave the actor preparation techniques so when he was cast in the role of younger Jethro, he would spend all day watching NCIS episodes and studying how Harmon brought the character for life. Now we know who to thank for this keen eye as Stowell gives his teacher another shout out:
He got me into a senior class play. And I had a ball doing that. There was something nice about having the lines written for ya. That I was somebody who maybe wasn’t so comfortable being themselves. So to step into somebody else’s shoes felt like a better idea.
I think we can agree that he’s filled Gibbs’ shoes well. Though this doesn’t mean we can’t be excited about Harmon’s return. And no, he’s not back because he’s disappointed in how Stowell’s handling the role. In fact, The actor is actually proud of how the show’s going. This will make the second return, as Harmon previously surprised fans with an appearance that proved that like Young Sheldon, you never know when characters from the present will pop up in the past.
Additionally, this isn’t the only return that has had fans hyped up. Michael Weatherly has returned to NCIS proper and seems to be sticking around after taking THAT position. Plus, Tony is set to reunite with Harmon in an upcoming October 20 episode of NCIS: Origins. Could this reunion be bigger than Ziva and Tony? This will be the first since the two have been together since their time on the original ship. Let’s not forget that LL Cool J has returned as Sam Hanna, trading LA for New York in the franchise’s newest spin-off.
It’s a good time to be a NCIS (and a Hawaii Five-O) fan. Though let’s hope that Stowell avoids injury in the upcoming season. We don’t want him to abandon ship just yet.
