NCIS: Origins Finds Its Jethro Gibbs in Austin Stowell

The ever-expanding universe of NCIS has found the young version of the man who started it all — Jethro Gibbs.

With as much as we know about Gibbs at this point, it’s exciting to imagine how he became the man he is today.

Casting the part is as important as writing it, and now we know who will be playing the young Jethro.

CBS announced today that Austin Stowell has been cast as young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the new drama NCIS: Origins.

The show has previously been ordered to series for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

NCIS: Origins, produced by CBS Studios, is the newest chapter in the NCIS franchise, exploring Gibbs’ early years.

Narrated by Mark Harmon, the new series begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.

Austin Stowell’s television credits include A Friend of the Family, The Hating Game opposite Lucy Hale, and Breathe.

He starred opposite George Clooney, Chris Abbott, and Hugh Laurie in the limited series Catch 22, in Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories, and Public Morals, which was also executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Ed Burns.

Stowell’s feature film credits include Battle of the Sexes alongside Emma Stone, Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks, This Tempting Madness, 12 Strong opposite Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon.

He also has a role in the Academy Award-winning Whiplash with JK Simmons, which was nominated for Best Picture and won the Audience and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2014.

Additional credits include Fantasy Island, the indie award-winning drama Swallow and Colossal with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis.

Needless to say, Stowell has worked with some incredible actors on amazing projects, so he’ll bring his A-game to NCIS: Origins.

We’re looking forward to seeing what other familiar characters will be cast with fresh faces.

NCIS: Origins is produced by CBS Studios.

Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, David J. North, and Gina Lucita Monreal will executive produce, with North and Monreal co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners.

NCIS is the world’s most successful television franchise, and it is estimated that in the 2022-2023 TV season, the franchise had over 300 million viewers around the world across all platforms, including broadcast, cable, streaming, and syndication (according to Nielsen and internal data).

In spring 2024, NCIS will celebrate its thousandth episode across the franchise.

This is not the only expansion in the works, as it was also recently announced that Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly will star in a Ziva David-Tony DiNozzo spinoff for Paramount+.

If you thought that this franchise was slowing down with the recent cancellations, you were wrong. It’s still alive and thriving, and we can only imagine what else the future will hold.

Does the idea of going back to the beginning of Gibbs’s story sound exciting?

Let us know if you will be watching.

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.