NCIS: Origins’ First Look At Austin Stowell’s Gibbs Is Almost Perfect (But It’s Missing 1 Crucial Detail)
SUMMARY
- Austin Stowell transforms into young Gibbs for NCIS: Origins.
- Audiences can expect a young Gibbs with a detailed character continuity in the NCIS spinoff.
- Grooming routine details may be crucial for Stowell’s portrayal of the iconic Gibbs character.
Austin Stowell gave audiences a first look at his young Gibbs character in NCIS: Origins, which was almost perfect. The Hating Game actor is set to take over the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in a new NCIS spinoff that will follow the young agent as he starts at Camp Pendleton’s NCIS office. Harmon portrayed Gibbs in the original NCIS series for almost two decades until he parted ways with the series in season 19. Stowell will take over as Gibbs, but his ability to emulate the original is crucial to the NCIS: Origins story.
Stowell will portray Leroy Jethro Gibbs at a time in his life that has some coverage in the original series. A precedent for young Gibbs has been set. Mark Harmon’s son, Sean Harmon, portrayed the character in his younger days on NCIS in pivotal flashbacks to his youth. While it may not have been realistic for Sean Harmon to reprise his role in the spinoff that will go back to the 1990s, creating a new Gibbs is risky. In fact, the show’s potential depends partly on how actors like Stowell can take over their original character counterparts.
Austin Stowell’s First Look As Leroy Jethro Gibbs Is Promising For NCIS: Origins
Austin Stowell Transformed Into Leroy Jethro Gibbs In An Instagram Reel
Austin Stowell was featured in an NCISInstagram reel that showed the actor transforming into his character. The video started with the actor saying, “I’m Austin Stowell, and I’m playing Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS: Origins, and here we go with our first haircut.” The video then showed a hair stylist buzzing parts of the actor’s hair away. Another stylist occasionally stepped in with a fan, presumably to blow away loose hair clippings. In the video, Stowell stated, “Who watches this is going to be like what a prima donna,” showing he’s self-aware of the fanfare.
A moment later, Stowell was in full Gibbs gear, wearing a light blue polo shirt with a navy windbreaker (that presumably says “NIS” on the back.) Notably, the badge hanging around his neck is silver, signaling that Gibbs has not yet climbed the ranks to earn the gold badge that signals he’s a Special Agent. That and other details gave Stowell’s young Gibbs a lot of promise. Ultimately, Stowell was in character, and the first look was almost perfect. The way Stowell moved his mouth and hands suggested that the actor did due diligence in studying the Gibbs character.
1 Missing Detail Prevents Austin Stowell’s Gibbs From Being Perfect
The Grooming Routine Departed From NCIS Lore
Even though the first look is promising for Austin Stowell as young Gibbs, one missing detail could have made it perfect. In NCIS season 3, it was revealed precisely how Gibbs cuts his hair, and it significantly differed from how Austin Stowell’s styling team executed his cut. In NCIS, Gibbs took a standard razor, like those used to shave a face, and ran it along the sides of his head, shaving away the hair at the tops of his ears. Harmon shaved horizontally rather than the upward strokes used on the electric buzzer.
The style gave Gibbs’ haircut a slightly unkempt unevenness while embodying an otherwise militant style. It was the haircut that Mark Harmon wore as Gibbs throughout the entire series. Parts of Gibbs changed over time, including his hair eventually turning white, but his haircut remained. While the styling team understood how Gibbs’ hair should look, they missed a crucial detail of how it was done. The first look would have been perfect if Austin Stowell had done the same hair-shaving routine that Mark Harmon did in season 3. Harmon also rocked the middle part, which Stowell’s hair is too short for.
Why Getting Gibbs’ Haircut Right Is So Crucial For NCIS: Origins
Gibbs Hair Is Symbolic Of His Time In The Marine Corps
Gibbs’ grooming routine was revealed in NCIS season 3, episode 23, “Hiatus Part II.” After Gibbs woke up after being in a coma, he disappeared from his hospital bed. A moment later, he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, examining his scars. Then, he picked up a razor and began shaving away his hair methodically, without thought. Gibbs did not remember anything since around the last time he came out of a coma, after the war and right before he joined NCIS. The way he automatically began shaving his hair was a symbol of him mentally being in 1991.
Gibbs’s hair is a crucial element of NCIS: Origins because he has just left the Marine Corps, where he presumably picked up the grooming routine, and the routine would be one he still used. Gibbs’ haircut may seem like a minute detail, and it is, but it’s a detail the show could get right to make the new Gibbs feel more like the old Gibbs without compromising any of Stowell’s autonomy to create a new character. Gibbs stuck to the haircut after he joined NCIS, so it would make sense that he would shave his head in NCIS: Origins.
