NCIS: Origins’ Austin Stowell reveals why he won’t ‘ever’ be ‘comfortable’ playing Mark Harmon’s beloved character

🎭 Why Stowell Won’t Feel ‘Comfortable’ in Harmon’s Shoes

Austin shares that playing Gibbs—especially a younger, rawer version—is deeply emotional and intense. Unlike the calm, stoic Gibbs Harmon portrayed, this version is grieving, broken, even uncomfortable on set during darker sceneshellomagazine.com+15apnews.com+15tvinsider.com+15tvinsider.com. He’s living through trauma—losing his wife and daughter in the pilot—and that makes the experience feel personal and heavy ew.com.

Stowell doesn’t just mimic Harmon; he’s inhabiting a vulnerable, early-Gibbs who’s not yet the unshakable leader fans know. That means diving into pain, grief, suicidal thoughts, and that emotional weight makes him uncomfortable, in the best possible way .

🧠 Embracing His Own Version of Gibbs

• Studied but didn’t imitate: Stowell learned Harmon’s signature mannerisms—the stares, silence, introspection—but he refuses to copy exactly, wanting authenticity over replicationtvinsider.com+15collider.com+15apnews.com+15.

• Mark gave permission, not direction: Harmon advised him to “trust yourself”, offering life wisdom and leadership advice, not acting notes screenrant.com+1parade.com+1. That’s a huge vote of confidence.

• Personal pain informs performance: Austin drew on his own experiences with grief to channel this early-stage trauma. Gibbs in this series is raw, emotional, sometimes suicidal, and Stowell credits real personal resonancewith his portrayal reddit.com+13tvinsider.com+13parade.com+13.

🎬 A Stark Departure from Classic Gibbs

This version of Gibbs is not yet the unflappable leader we know:

• He fights internal battles, including grief and suicidal ideation ew.com+11tvinsider.com+11collider.com+11.

• He’s messy, emotionally volatile, living in dark corners—a stark contrast to Harmon’s disciplined Gibbsapnews.com+1screenrant.com+1.

• The focus is on emotional realism, not procedural polish—“a darker crime piece,” says Stowellhellomagazine.com+15apnews.com+15apnews.com+15.

🧩 Why He’ll Never Be Totally Comfortable

Stowell sums it up honestly: taking on Mark Harmon’s legacy is daunting, and playing a traumatized, fragile version of Gibbs is emotionally exhausting. He says he’ll never feel fully “comfortable” because this portrayal is inherently uncomfortable—and that vulnerability, he believes, is essential to tell Gibbs’s origin story properlypeople.com+12apnews.com+12screenrant.com+12.

✅ Final Take

• This is not a carbon copy of Harmon; it’s a deep dive into emotional trauma.

• Austin brings authentic vulnerability, not imitation.

• His discomfort is not weakness—it’s artistic strength. It shows his respect for the character’s complexity.

• And Mark Harmon’s support—“trust yourself”—functionally passed the torch.

In short, Stowell isn’t trying to be a comfortable stand-in. He’s honoring the legacy by being true to the pain that made Gibbs who he is.