NCIS Star Mark Harmon Confirms Whether He's Retiring After Gibbs Exit

For nearly two decades, "NCIS" fans could turn on their TVs with the knowledge Mark Harmon would be there as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. In Season 19, Harmon shockingly left the procedural, handing the reigns to the rest of the cast to carry on the legendary CBS show. However, Harmon isn't taking it easy. In fact, he's keeping busy in more ways than one, as he's revealed in an interview with People. 

First and foremost, Harmon didn't leave "NCIS" entirely. He remained an executive producer for Season 20, so he still has one hand in that world. As he told the outlet, "I left the show, I didn't retire." Him leaving also opened up other possibilities, namely working on a passion project to bring a historical nonfiction book to the masses — "Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, a Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor." 

Harmon wrote the book with Leon Carroll Jr., who worked as an actual NCIS special agent for 20 years before becoming a technical advisor for the long-running program. Even with his new project, Harmon is taking his time on "NCIS" and applying it to his next endeavor. He continued, "I've always thought you can learn from history. Things tend to repeat themselves."

No one would blame Mark Harmon, who's 72 years old, if he wanted to take things easy after coming off the immense success of "NCIS." But the actor continues to buck trends by showing he still has a lot of passion and still has stories he wants to tell. While "NCIS" provided consistent, reliable work, it also meant he was often too tired to do anything else. He explained to People, "I think for the longest time I was just tired, to be honest. My workload was heavy every week. I took it seriously, and there were a lot of people there who did the same. I miss the camaraderie, the lunches at the tables and hearing about people's families and what they're doing away from the show. But it's a job."

While Harmon occasionally misses the "NCIS" set, it's safe to say his old co-workers miss working with him, too. Throughout the show's run, his co-stars sang Harmon's praises and how much they loved working with him. But the most important thing these days is Harmon having a chance to spend more time with his family. While he's worked on his new book, he's also had time to just kick back, "I've got time to do whatever I want to. I can plan a dinner with the boys, we can take a trip. I'm so fortunate, I don't ever wake up not thinking that."

"Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, a Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor" comes out November 14. After that, anything's possible for Mark Harmon.