‘NCIS’: Mark Harmon Talks Returning Onscreen for ‘Origins’ Crossover & What Intrigued Him About Where Gibbs Is Now

How’s Gibbs doing in the Alaskan wilderness? Well, NCIS: Origins is going to give us that answer, with Mark Harmon returning onscreen for the prequel’s half of the crossover with the mothership airing on Tuesday, November 11.

Last we saw Gibbs, it was in the prequel’s series premiere, he was still in Alaska, where NCIS left him upon Harmon’s exit as a series regular in Season 19. Now, the two shows are crossing over, with a case opened in the ’90s taking the NIS team to a small town following a death. Then, that case is reopened in the present day after a prison break.

Below, Mark Harmon opens up about returning onscreen as Gibbs, seeing the world of Origins, and more, including if he’d appear onscreen again in the future.

In your statement when your appearance was announced, you said that David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal came to you with an idea for Gibbs you liked. What can you share about those conversations and did you suggest anything that ended up being used?

Mark Harmon: I very rarely suggest things to either one of ’em. They’re really talented and I mean, that’s kind of why they’ve developed this show and that’s how it started. Those two were so special during the course of the mothership and my time there. And when they talked about doing what became Origins, I said, those two are the ones you got to go after. So I just trust them. This is their show, and it’s a different day. But the mothership in the beginning, I think people think that that show just jumped out, it was a hit right off, and it wasn’t. It took years to develop that, and it was a different time, different network, all of that. But this is a process, and it’s been pretty interesting to watch this develop and also have a memory of what it was like 20 years ago when the mothership was started. So for me, other than doing the voiceover, I just trust these two showrunners and what their ideas are. That’s my job to support that. And this is part of their thought of what is right for the show. So that’s why I’m part of it.

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David and Gina said that Gibbs is no longer alone. What can you tease about that other person and what that person means to him?

I just think that goes back to the basics of the character. He was pretty unsuccessful in his life being married, had a bunch of ex-wives, and by design from the very first day was kind of a loner. So much of this is his writing into this journal. They’ve depicted that already, that this is a guy that by the rules didn’t talk much and was kind of his own individual and how he did things. So for him to be in the middle of wherever he is or wherever he is living or has been for the past number of years, that was his choice. I think he finds a solidarity in that works for him. So it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s chosen to be that right now versus what he had been doing for so many years.

Talk about filming for this Origins crossover and stepping back into Gibbs’ shoes.

Oh, that’s a comfortable spot, and that has to do with the creative process and who you’re working with. And these two were so special as writers and it’s also why those two developed the Origins footprint on their own. And I certainly backed that their choice to do that. It’s comfortable. I mean, the sets are comfortable. They’re comfortable. I know who they are. You have a big backlog of time together with people and they’re special. That’s what 20 years in the saddle does — it gives you a comfort that is somewhat rare. I don’t know that that’s on every set I’ve ever been on. And it is also important that the crew and all those people are people.

When I spoke with the producers from both shows, they told me that Gibbs learns one of his rules in the crossover, and it’s what it’s about. And we all know how important Gibbs’s rules are to this franchise. What can you say about that and anything about what we’ve seen about that rule on the mothership with you?

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I think he was in the beginning, the whole rules thing was something that was added to. This episode, there’s another rule and then there was another rule and the number of rules kept changing. I just think those rules came from his relationships, his wife, that’s where that came from. And I think that not only story-wise became something that the audience loved being introduced to, but also seeing how he adapted to those. I just think that he was someone of lesser words than most, and I just think his actions really kind of drove the character versus whatever he said. But part of that came from his wife and her establishing a set of standards that were basically to live by. So I think he’s got a discipline with that and that’s something that never leaves him.

What can you say about what the case means to the Gibbs (Austin Stowell) back then in the ‘90s and also to your Gibbs looking back at this case?

I think it’s all been like a building structure. They’re pieces that fit together in filling out a character. I don’t know that it ever gets completely filled out. I think he’s learning at the same time that everybody else is learning. He was developed as a character that had a lot of questions, and he was someone who took pride in doing things his way and standing up to that good or bad. And I am just reminded in going back and even being a small part of it in this present time period, all the time about what it was in the beginning and how it took time to develop. It didn’t happen overnight. And that’s true for all the characters and also for this show that the characters developed along with the show and that took years — years, not like weeks, years.

Now that we’ve gotten you back on screen, what are the chances of seeing you again in the future, whether again on Origins, on the mothership, would you say?

I don’t know. Gina and David had an idea. I obviously like them, I admire ’em, worked with ’em for a very long time. They’re very good. They had an idea and I liked the idea. I try really hard to think about what’s best for the show or what possibly can work for this show. But part of that also is giving them the ability to write what they feel is right for the reasons they feel it’s right. I try hard not to bother them, not to make their job harder than it is, and it’s plenty hard just developing this new show. And I’m reminded by that because it’s exactly what the mothership was when it first debuted. And this is on a similar path, which is not a bad idea if it works. So we’ll see.

There’s a clip out already of a sneak peek of you in the crossover, and we see that some things never changed, like Gibbs just using whatever’s around him as a glass, pouring out the nuts and bolts and the screws and just drinking out of that. How many Easter eggs like that are we getting specifically about Gibbs in this crossover?

I didn’t count, but he is who he is. And I don’t think much of that is going to change. I mean, those are all things that are part of the real texture of the character and age doesn’t change that, time doesn’t change that, location doesn’t change that whether he is behind the desk or if he’s in the wilds of Alaska. So I expect there will be some in this. Yes, definitely.

What has surprised you the most about Gibbs’s past as you stepped into narrating and executive producing Origins?

Some of it — I mean, David and Gina are creating this, so it is kind of like backloading it, right? So you started something which is basically 20 years later or whatever. Now you’re going backwards. So you’ve really got to try to take things apart a little bit to go inside all these different characters, not just Gibbs. There’s a number of different characters and where they came from. I’m looking forward to finding out about Lala [Mariel Molino], right? Mariel’s great in this role and we’re fortunate to have her, but I’m wondering why you could do a show for 20 years and he’s never mentioned Lala. So I think that’s part of their gift in writing this. And those are those same, I guess they call ’em Easter Eggs, right? They’re surprising tidbits for the audience, but they’re all character-driven. They’re all part of what build a character and build the show. And I love that they’re doing that. I mean, they’re two gifted writers. They both came to this show about the same time, ad it was early. I mean, they’ve very much been there —David for sure. He’s been there from the very, very beginning. He was a coffee getter on the show, and he became a writer through his own initiative. And then Gina joined soon after that. But they were both there in the very, very beginning.

How settled do you think Gibbs is in Alaska?

I think he’s very comfortable on his own. He probably has more challenges being around lots of people than he does being alone, but he’s not alone anymore, right? So that part was intriguing. This is an idea David and Gina had, and it was like, oh, that’s cool. I’m trying to help them. It’s why the voiceover thing was something that they pitched from the beginning in the idea of this show, and it keeps me physically involved. It’s something I do like every 10 days, I go in and do however many loops we have or shows we have to do. And that narrative has been fun to try to get behind and understand things that were just during the course of the show presented weekly that you just took as being true and move forward. But now maybe you get a chance now to understand a little more or to find a little more, or even show how it was developed because you’re a number of years advanced to what we’ve already shown audiences. And that’s been an interesting process for me from the beginning, sitting in that room and watching actors come through the door to play people that you knew later in their lives. So it’s all been new, and that’s pretty interesting on a show that’s 20 years old.

NCIS & NCIS: Origins Crossover, Tuesday, November 11, 8/7c, CBS