NCIS: ORIGINS star Austin Stowell once wanted to prove he could win on his own, but his conversation with the original Gibbs shows him learning to welcome help.
“I think you’re the right guy to lead that charge,” actor and NCIS: ORIGINS executive producer Mark Harmon told him.
In the CBS Mornings conversation released Oct. 13, Stowell admitted that hearing about Harmon’s return initially made him worry he had disappointed the veteran actor. He eventually understood the return differently: Harmon believed in the people making the show.
Stowell compared his first reaction to calling a relief pitcher out of retirement. His competitive instinct had made accepting support feel like falling short, even as he cared deeply about the character and the colleagues around him.
“I love the people I work with,” Stowell said.
The two actors share Gibbs across different stages of his life. According to CBS’ series information, Stowell plays the young investigator in the early 1990s, while Harmon narrates and appears throughout season three in a present-day mystery connected to Gibbs’ Camp Pendleton years. Season three premiered Oct. 6, and CBS lists the drama for Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Related: NCIS: ORIGINS 1.1 and 1.2 “Enter Sandman – Part 1 and Part 2”
Their talk also reached back to the days when neither man had an established acting career. Harmon recalled selling shoes before finding his way into acting, prompting Stowell to describe an unusual way he once tried to get casting directors and producers to notice him in Los Angeles.
Stowell said he bought cheap sneakers at a store on Santa Monica and mailed out a shoe with a note. He recalled its wording as a literal play on getting an opportunity.
“Now that I have my foot in the door, maybe you’ll see me in person,” Stowell recalled writing. When Harmon asked whether the idea worked, Stowell said it did.
Persistence also meant getting up in front of other people. Stowell remembered volunteering first for Monday monologues during his training at the University of Connecticut because he wanted to perform before becoming absorbed in everyone else’s work; the university’s alumni page lists his acting BFA in 2007.
Harmon, a former UCLA quarterback, recognized the habit of showing up and practicing. In their conversation, he praised Stowell’s daily tenacity and the commitment of his fellow cast members, treating leadership as work the whole group supports.
Harmon also acknowledged needing help himself when he stepped back into the role. He described asking questions about the creative work and where the story was going, and credited the professionals around him with making the set feel solid.
That encouragement has a history. In a 2024 interview with Us Weekly, Stowell described Harmon as welcoming to the cast and crew and said he learned from the older actor’s example as a person.
“But hearing you say that to me fills me with a lot of pride,” Stowell told Harmon in the CBS conversation.
One memory brought that shared responsibility into focus. Stowell recalled Harmon waiting outside his trailer with a smile and a golf cart near the end of season one, ready to tell the set they had earned a second season; Stowell said he jumped off and ran ahead to deliver the news.
“It’s the team victory,” Stowell said. He remembered the renewal as something they had accomplished together and hoped for more days like it.
Read Next: NCIS: ORIGINS Star Austin Stowell Has This to Say About Mark Harmon
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
