Mark Harmon Became an Actor After Talking to a Stranger Who Was Miserable at His Job
Mark Harmon’s initial plan in life wasn’t solely to become a famous actor. The NCIS star might’ve taken a different path if it wasn’t for a chance encounter with a stranger unhappy with his work.
Mark Harmon’s random conversation with a stranger led to his acting career
Harmon entertained a few other possible career options before becoming an actor. On The Rich Eisen Show, he opened up about some of the many hats he wore before the acting bug caught him.
“I had a bunch of different starts,” Harmon said. “I did a lot of jobs, I sold shoes, I was in law school for a little bit. I worked for Adidas for about eight months, and before that, I was doing merchandising in radio in Los Angeles.”
But perhaps the closest Harmon came to pursuing a non-acting career was carpentry. The hobby was a passion of Harmon’s that he indulged in longer than his acting career. But the problem was he couldn’t find a job doing what he loved.
“I tried to do that, but I just couldn’t get hired. I enjoyed getting up and doing that in the morning; I enjoyed the drive to work,” Harmon said in a 2018 interview with Men’s Journal. “For me it was about materials and doing right. If you did it right, [the project] outlasted you. I still enjoy [carpentry], but I think that’s probably what I would have been trying to do had I not been [acting].”
Harmon also maintained a gig as a shoe salesman. But he didn’t last long after a chance encounter with a stranger motivated him to quit on a whim.
“I was coming back from Boston and I was sitting next to a 33-year-old who was talking about trying to make pension at 65. He was drinking his second martini by the time we were wheels up. He was miserable in his job and he was trying to maintain the job for another [32] years. I went home, got in my car, drove out to the place where I worked, and gave my notice,” he said.
Mark Harmon used his real-life woodworking skills on ‘NCIS’
Although Harmon committed himself to pursuing an acting career full time, he still continued to dabble in carpentry. In some cases, he’d use his skills to supplement income while on the hunt for potential acting roles.
“I used to hang out in my dad’s workshop on weekends. Later, when I was starting out as an actor, I became a roofer and a framer to make money. But what I really enjoyed was finish work. I like the longevity of it: If you do it right, it will be around a lot longer than you are,” Harmon once told Sunset.
Eventually, Harmon would land his highly coveted role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS. Apart from being the actor’s longest and most popular role, an episode of NCIS allowed Harmon to show off his carpentry skills.
“It’s actually a real boat, with real plans. In past shows, we learned he built other boats. I doubt he will ever finish this one,” he said.
Why Mark Harmon chose to stay away from movies as as an actor
Harmon became one of the entertainment industry’s most lucrative stars without doing movies. He’s amassed millions of dollars thanks largely to his role in NCIS. Perhaps Harmon could’ve starred in more feature films, but he opted to focus on television to stay close to his family.
“I left to do a movie in New Guinea,” Harmon once told CBS News. “And our oldest had just taken his first steps the day I left. And I came back three months later and he got out of the car by himself and walked up the sidewalk and grabbed onto my leg at the airport. And I turned to my wife and I said, ‘Hate to tell you, but I’m not gonna be doing new movies in New Guinea for the rest of my life to be able to afford the house we’re in, and miss all this.”
