Mark Harmon is 'Available at All Times' as NCIS: Origins Star Austin Stowell Steps into Gibbs Role: ‘Need Anything?'

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Stowell also reveals how he's honoring longtime NCIS fans with his take on the beloved character

Transcript

00:00Now it's the sit down with Austin Stowe.

00:02Hi, Austin.

00:03We're just days away from the premiere of NCIS Origins.

00:07Mark Harmon made this role iconic.

00:09He's also involved in the prequel

00:11and helped cast you as young Gibbs.

00:13How did that feel,

00:14knowing that he specifically thought you were right for it?

00:18It is, it's a tremendous honor.

00:20I knew that I had something that I could bring to the role

00:24and I knew I had something inside me

00:26that felt very Gibbs-esque.

00:27And so to be tapped to play the guy

00:31is absolutely a confidence booster.

00:36It's something that I take a lot of pride in.

00:41What did you focus on

00:42to get the essence of Leroy Jethro Gibbs?

00:45Are there expressions or gestures

00:46that you've adopted from Mark?

00:48I watched quite a bit of Mark's best episodes

00:53when I first got the audition.

00:55It was important to me to find out

00:59what the fans thought were his best episodes.

01:02And I went back and I watched those.

01:04And there are what I like to call Gibbisms.

01:10There are certain things that Mark does

01:13and they are different to his other characters

01:15that he's portrayed.

01:17And so I wanted to embody as much of that as I could

01:22and decide, okay, if this is day one with Gibbs,

01:27how many of these behaviors are innate to him

01:30and how many of them get learned over time?

01:33And so that was fun.

01:35Watch your step, Marine.

01:36You're on my squad?

01:36Nope, you're on mine.

01:38Joining such a beloved, longstanding franchise

01:40has to be a little overwhelming.

01:42I mean, fans have loved the show

01:43and the character for over 20 years.

01:45Did Mark give you any advice on navigating that?

01:48Well, you know, Mark has never been,

01:52hey, here's a piece of advice that I wanna give to you.

01:56He has been available at all times.

02:00He's always a phone call away

02:02if he's not here on set with us.

02:04He always starts off his conversations

02:07with, do you need anything?

02:09That is so disarming, the guy as a global superstar.

02:14He could make it very uncomfortable

02:15for people to be around him.

02:18Certainly, I mean, for me,

02:20a guy who is stepping into the shoes of the character

02:22that he created and has become beloved,

02:27and for everybody else that's around here.

02:29And that goes for the crew.

02:30He treats everyone with such respect

02:32and the first two words out of his mouth all the time are,

02:35do you need anything?

02:36As fans ourselves,

02:37we wanna get to know our new Gibbs a little better.

02:40Ready for some rapid fire questions?

02:42Sure.

02:43You're an outdoorsy guy.

02:44What's your favorite hike you've ever done?

02:46Ned LeMond in New Zealand

02:48was one of the greatest days of my life.

02:50You once posted an epic 90s throwback for Mother's Day.

02:53If you could bring back one trend from the 90s,

02:55what would it be?

02:56Oh man, I just get rid of cell phones.

02:59And if we could, I know that's not really a trend.

03:03And I get it, Google Maps and Uber

03:06and all these things are a lot of fun,

03:07but I'm a believer that the world

03:10would be a little bit of a better place

03:12if we didn't have these computers on us all the time.

03:17I mean, shout out to Apple and everybody else

03:19that's doing great things with phones,

03:21but that's just me.

03:24Who's one co-star you'd love to work with again someday

03:26and why?

03:27Okay, because he's not on the show all the time.

03:31I would really love to work with Bobby Moynihan again.

03:34I just got to see him perform at the UCB the other night.

03:38He's, I mean, the guy is a comedic legend.

03:40Everybody knows Bobby Moynihan.

03:43Austin, are you single?

03:44We'll take a yes or a no.

03:45Yes.

03:46Ah.

03:47Yes.

03:48Okay, so what qualities do you look for

03:50in a potential partner?

03:51Kindness to strangers is very important to me.

03:54I think the way that someone treats someone on the street,

03:57you can really learn a lot about them in those moments.

04:00But at the moment, I'm in a relationship with a TV show.

04:04I am here Monday through Friday.

04:07This is, I'm in a relationship with,

04:10remember those 300 people that I was telling you about?

04:12They are all my boyfriends and girlfriends.

04:15Finally, I'm going to put 10 seconds on the clock.

04:17Tell everyone why they should check out NCIS Origins.

04:20Ready?

04:20Go.

04:21NCIS Origins is going to be on at nine o'clock on CBS

04:26and streaming on Paramount+.

04:28We hope you are really going to love it

04:30because we sure are proud of it.

04:33Austin, thank you so much for joining us today.

04:36Really, really appreciate it.

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