NCIS: OriginsMeet the new Gibbs: Mark Harmon's
Published on April 20, 2026 EDT Austin Stowell will play the young version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the '90s-set TV show.

It's time to meet your new — and young! — Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Austin Stowell has landed the lead role in NCIS: Origins, the CBS prequel series about a younger version of Mark Harmon's flagship NCIS character, EW has learned.

This new installment of the ever-expanding franchise will explore Gibbs' early years. It's set to turn back the clock to 1991, following a young Gibbs as he starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by legend Mike Franks.

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images; Bill Inoshita/CBS via Getty Images

Stowell, 39, is known for starring opposite Lucy Hale in the rom-com film The Hating Game, based on the novel of the same name. His other TV and film credits include A Friend of the Family, Breathe, Catch-22, Bridge of Spies, Battle of the Sexes, 12 Strong, Whiplash, and Colossal.

After exiting NCIS four episodes into the series' 19th season, Harmon will return to the franchise to narrate Origins, and to executive-produce alongside his son Sean Harmon (who has previously played a young Gibbs). Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, who both wrote on the main NCIS for 10 years, will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. (North is currently co-showrunner and EP on NCIS.)

NCIS: Origins previously landed a straight-to-series order for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

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