‘NCIS: Origins’: Austin Stowell Says His Gibbs Is ‘Living in a Dark Hole’

NCIS has shown us glimpses of and told us what life was like for Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon in the original series for 19 seasons) after his wife Shannon and his daughter Kelly were killed. Now, in NCIS: Origins (the two-hour premiere airs October 14 on CBS), we’ll see that, with Austin Stowell playing Gibbs.

The prequel picks up in 1991 as he joins NIS as a newly minted agent. Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) runs the gritty, ragtag team at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office. There’s more to this past than we’ve heard on the original series—not least of which is a chapter of his and his father’s (Robert Taylor) relationship. Below, Stowell introduces his Gibbs.

This is a Gibbs for whom the losses of Shannon and Kelly are fresh. So just talk about playing him grieving in the more emotional side of him.

Austin Stowell: That’s what drew me to the character initially, that grief is something that unfortunately most of us have gone through, and certainly these first several episodes are a bit of a meditation on grief in the different stages. We’re going to see someone who’s emotional, who’s lashing out at times, who’s jumpy and also considering every option. And I think that also includes the ultimate option. This is someone who’s already tried to take his own life and is getting a second chance from it and doesn’t want to spoil that. I think that’s very alive in the Gibbs that I’m portraying.

This is obviously so different from the version that NCIS fans have seen for 19 years and this wonderful character that Mark Harmon has created that does, of course, have this backstory and there’s moments of it, but this is a character who is living in that, who’s living in the grief, who’s living in the dark hole and trying to dig himself out of it. And so this is a character that’s really fun to play because this is the guy who threw up his hands at one point to give up and is now ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work and find new passion.

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We’re also seeing a new chapter that we didn’t know about, this part of Gibbs and his dad’s relationship. It’s a contentious relationship. Are we going to see any moments of warmth?

I think behind every argument usually is an element of love because if you didn’t care, you’d walk out. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t say anything. I think the moments that you’re speaking of, these arguments, only represent a desire for love, a desire to be heard, a desire to feel like you exist, especially to someone as important to you as a father. Robert Taylor, who’s playing my dad, is just killer. He brings so much to this character that is also dealing with his own method of grief. I can only imagine, and I certainly don’t have a daughter-in-law or a granddaughter, but I’ve lost family members and that would be just as torturous for him.

And that’s really tough when you’re dealing with your own emotions such as despair and grief. It’s really difficult to recognize someone else’s and it’s not something that can be calculated. It’s not something that can be measured. It’s not like my grief is more than yours because I was closer to them. It just is. There’s no cure for it. When somebody leaves you, they are just gone forever. And that is something that as human beings we just have to deal with—probably the most difficult thing we do as human beings and certainly as Americans, Westerners, I’ll just say, death is something that we don’t talk about too much. It’s certainly not something that we celebrate in joyous occasions, it’s filled with remorse and darkness in most cases. And so I think that this is a really great example of what it’s like to have to go through those different stages, to have to go through those levels of emotions, and to learn that at some point you have to lean on someone else, that it’s just too much if you try to keep it in.

We know what Gibbs and Franks’ relationship becomes in the future, but what are the early days like?

Well, it starts in a dark place. I don’t mean to keep banging this drum that Gibbs doesn’t have any lighter moments to find happiness, to find purpose and meaning and fulfillment. But in these first few episodes, these emotions are so raw. Franks is one of those that teaches Gibbs to accept the helping hand.

There’s usually a question about a potential romance, but for Gibbs, it’s more about him letting anyone in any possible way because of where he is right now. How is he doing opening up to the team and spending time with them outside work?

Yeah, fairly closed off. He doesn’t say much when he is being encouraged by Franks to let it out. You can even see that in the pilot. He says, you get a gut feeling, you let us know, you got to let it out, probie. Letting go is a really great theme, a really powerful theme that we’re going to use at least through these first 10 episodes. That’s all I’ve read, so that’s all I can speak on. But we desire control and you feel safer when you feel in control. There’s the safety of knowing what’s coming next, but there is so much in life that we just cannot control. The stoics talk about this all the time, and if I were going to recommend anything to Gibbs, I would probably give him Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, and I think it would be wonderfully helpful for him.

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And I only speak that way because I’ve gone through this. When I first picked up these scripts, I said, I know exactly who this guy is. I’ve been there so I can play an informed version of Gibbs to play the weight because it’s on his shoulders all the time. It’s something that’s in the back of his mind. It’s something that people say certain things, it sparks memories and you just feel like you can’t let anybody in, that no one understands, that no one gets me. And it becomes very inward. And what’s such a tough lesson to learn is that when you let it out to others, it gets better almost immediately because you find so much that people will come back to you and say, yeah, I’ve been there, too. To know that you’re not alone is a lesson that’s really hard to learn. And so to portray a character like Gibbs at this point in his life, to show people what it’s like to learn those lessons, to hit the mat and get up again, to fall off the horse and get up again is really important to me, important to establish who this guy was before he became this iconic hero that the world knows and loves.

What’s your favorite of Gibbs’ rules, and what’s the one rule that Gibbs at this point that you’re playing him needs to keep in mind the most?

I like “Never mess with a Marine’s coffee” (Rule 23). As somebody who drinks their coffee black and only black and I don’t want it any other way, I don’t want to add anything to it. Nothing. I don’t want to try your new coffee. I’m very happy that you are enjoying the pumpkin spice latte or matcha, whatever thing you have going there. I’m good with black coffee. [Laughs]

And then I’d say Rule 45, [about] cleaning up your messes. He’s messy. He’s messy right now. Just that opening shot, it doesn’t look like he’s cleaned those sheets in a while. It doesn’t look like he’s taking very good care of himself. And it sounds like a played-out adage, but you truly can’t take care of others until you can take care of yourself.

NCIS: Origins, 2-Hour Premiere, Monday, October 14, 9/8c, CBS