Austin Stowell Explains Why He Reads Mark Harmon’s Narration Lines in ‘NCIS’ Origins’
NCIS didn’t completely part ways with Mark Harmon after he left the series. Harmon was a consistent presence in the prequel NCIS: Origins, where he serves as one of the series’ producers. The veteran actor also narrates the series. But Origins‘ current star, Austin Stowell, sometimes finds himself reading Harmon’s narration lines — even though he doesn’t have to.
Mark Harmon’s narration helps Austin Stowell’s performance in ‘NCIS: Origins’
NCIS found a loophole for Harmon to return to the franchise without disrupting his character’s retirement from the show. According to Harmon himself, he was asked by the showrunners to provide voiceover work.
“I don’t know if it was clear initially, how that was going to take place,” Harmon told Variety. “Then the question was, after that, how are you going to do that? Is he standing there with his finger on his chin? Is he writing a book?”
Despite his inquiries, Harmon agreed to lend his talents to the project. The veteran star couldn’t have had a better time. During the process, Harmon also discovered that his beloved franchise still offered a few surprises for his character.
“That’s been fun,” Harmon told Parade. “Because both [showrunners] Gina [Lucita Monreal] and David [J. North] have a long history with the show and I go way back with both of them. So, me doing the narration was always going to be part of this, so that wasn’t a surprise. What is the surprise is talking about Gibbs. Sometimes I don’t have a lot of stuff to do in an episode. And then sometimes I’ve got a boatload of stuff to do and that’s putting words in the mouth of a character that traditionally said a lot with very little.”
A nice side-effect of Harmon’s narration is that it helps with Stowell’s own performance as Gibbs.
“When we do the table read, Mark is there. But I read the [narration] lines because it helps me inform Gibbs’ younger self,” Stowell explained to TV Insider.
“The narration tells me mostly everything I need to know. While we’re filming, I’ll have someone read the narration while we’re doing the scene because it helps timing,” he added.
Austin Stowell said Mark Harmon never gives him notes on his performance
Harmon has been a part of Stowell’s casting process from the very beginning. The NCIS star sat in a room with a few other casting directors during Stowell’s audition. They all unanimously agreed that they found their guy. Since then, Stowell asserted that Harmon’s creative input for his successor’s performance has been minimal.
“He gave it to me right away in the room,” Stowell told Us Weekly. “He was vocal about — maybe not what to do — but certainly [he was] guiding me more in terms of posture and mindset, things that I’ve learned to inhabit all the more over time.”
But Harmon doesn’t give Stowell guidance with notes.
“He leads by example. He’s a guy who I’ve learned a lot more about being a human being than being Gibbs. He’s been so welcoming — not just to me and not just to the rest of the cast, but the whole crew. He’s really such a wonderful leader for us because he makes everybody feel so comfortable,” Stowell said.
Harmon’s stern but gentle approach as a mentor has been a valuable asset for Stowell, who’s felt tremendous pressure walking in Harmon’s shoes.
“It’s a daunting task to recreate Gibbs and to go back and try to tell this story while being respectful to the fans and to the storyline of the original show,” he added. “We want to do our best job as actors, as artists, as writers and storytellers. While there could be a lot of pressure, Mark Harmon makes us feel so comfortable and he makes us feel justified in our decisions.”
