‘NCIS’ Prequel at CBS Casts Younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs

The NCIS prequel at CBS has found its young Gibbs.

Austin Stowell (Peacock’s A Friend of the Family) will play the younger version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS: Origins, which is set in 1991 and will look at the early days of Gibbs’ career in the Navy’s criminal investigations branch. The show’s time frame, 12 years before NCIS began, and Stowell’s real-life age, 39, track with that of Mark Harmon (51) when he originated the character on NCIS predecessor JAG in 2003.

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NCIS: Origins is set to be part of CBS’ 2024-25 schedule, as the network gave the show a straight-to-series order in early January. The franchise from CBS Studios currently encompasses the main series, which is in its 21st season; 3-year-old spinoff NCIS: Hawai’i; NCIS: Sydney, the first international edition of the show; and a forthcoming Paramount+ spinoff that will feature the return of former regulars Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly.

Harmon, who departed NCIS in the show’s 19th season, will be an executive producer of Origins and serve as its narrator. Harmon’s son Sean — who played a young Gibbs in flashbacks on several NCIS episodes — is also an EP.

Origins will find Gibbs starting his career as a new special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office. He takes his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (played by Muse Watson in the original series).

NCIS veterans David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal are writing the premiere episode and will serve as co-showrunners on the prequel. They executive produce with Mark and Sean Harmon.

Stowell’s credits also include Hulu’s Catch-22, the Showtime-turned-Starz miniseries Three Women, and feature films Bridge of Spies and Battle of the Sexes. He also has a previous role in the NCIS-verse to his name, guest-starring on a 2010 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. Stowell is repped by Gersh and Yorn Levine.

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