The team on NCIS: Origins is growing: Lori Petty and Bobby Moynihan are joining the NCIS prequel that debuts October 14 on CBS.
Petty will play an assistant medical examiner while Moynihan will take over as a lead forensic analyst. Their additions to the cast were announced Saturday at the show’s TCA panel that included former NCIS star Mark Harmon, who is an executive producer and narrator on the prequel. Showrunners are Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North.
Also joining the producers on the dais was Harmon’s son Sean, who recurred on NCIS as a younger Jethro in seven episodes from 2008-2020, and was the one who first pitched the idea. He was asked to explain why it’s not him playing his dad’s character (the role went to Bridge of Spies‘ Austin Stowell).
“It has been an honor to step into this world to play a character my dad created. It was always close to my heart,” explained Sean Harmon, who also holds an EP title on the prequel. “I never really wanted to make a career out of .. I was jazzed to step in to the executive producer role.”
NCIS: Origins begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS. In the new series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks. (On the mothership series, Franks has been a recurring character played by Muse Watson. Franks was fatally stabbed in Season 8 but continued to appear to Gibbs when he needed a sounding board on hard cases.)
Harmon said he won’t be actively involved in the production but he did play a role in finding the perfect young Jethro.
“When Austin came in, Gina swooned,” quipped Harmon.
Stowell said he didn’t get a chance to talk to Harmon before auditioning. It ended up not mattering because this Gibbs is far different than the one who audiences came to love on NCIS.
“This is Gibbs dealing with the loss of his wife and child. This is not the Gibbs that the world knows as the team leader who’s always put together,” explained Stowell. “This is someone who is broken, who is trying to find his identity. Mark did come up to me and said two words, ‘trust yourself.'”
