Why Young Leroy Jethro Gibbs From NCIS: Origins Looks So Familiar

Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs is nothing short of a procedural drama icon. "NCIS" might technically have an ensemble cast, but Harmon's influence looms so large that other cast members thought the one thing that could kill the series would be Gibbs' exit. Thanks to Gary Cole, Gibbs' departure ultimately wasn't a death knell for the series, but that doesn't take away from the original team leader's gravitas and importance.

Now, Harmon's influence is felt by a younger actor who faces the daunting task of portraying young Gibbs on "NCIS: Origins." Fans already know that "Origins'" Gibbs looks different from Harmon's, but they can rest assured that sporting a longer haircut has little to do with Austin Stowell's ability to portray the legendary character. While obviously quite a bit younger than Harmon, Stowell joins the "NCIS" franchise as an experienced actor with several notable movies and TV shows under his belt. Here's a look at some of the roles you might know him from.

Austin Stowell's first major screen role was in a 17-episode arc as the recurring character Jesse on the ABC teen drama "The Secret Life of an American Teenager." Jesse is Lauren Treacy's (Camille Winbush) love interest and also brings Madison Cooperstein (Renee Olstead) in the mix with perhaps predictably disastrous results.

Stowell was part of the show from 2009 to 2011, appearing in Seasons 2-4. While he fully recognizes the experience as an important and educational one, he admitted in an interview with Coveteur that his experience working in theater combined with his nigh-complete inexperience with TV sometimes made things awkward. And, in one situation, it almost caused him to physically choke.

"I was used to projecting to the back of a room and doing wide gestures, but [film acting is] about subtlety and about acting with the eyes and letting it happen internally," he said. "Anyway, the embarrassing part was that I was so nervous to the point where I could barely eat. So during the scene, we're eating French fries and on the first take I practically choke on this French fry because my mouth won't work to say words and chew. I'm thinking about everything and the camera. There was just so much happening and finally they go, 'Alright, just get rid of the fries!'"

If making "The Secret Life of an American Teenager" was intense, imagine what it must've been like for Austin Stowell when he found himself acting opposite J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller in 2014's "Whiplash," a movie that virtually defines the concept of intensity. The psychological drama won three Oscars and numerous other awards, and while Simmons' performance as the hellishly demanding Schaffer Conservatory music teacher Terence Fletcher was the toast of the town, Stowell more than holds his own in his role as Ryan Connolly.

Stowell's Ryan is a comparatively laid-back drummer who's less talented than Teller's increasingly driven Andrew Neiman and ends up serving as an unwitting pawn in Fletcher's unscrupulous quest to turn Andrew into a peerless drumming machine. While "Whiplash" is very much a two-man show — well, three, if you count Paul Reiser as Andrew's father — Ryan is one of the movie's most prominent supporting characters. His relatively chill attitude toward everything up to and including Fletcher's brutal teaching methods serves as an important contrast to the increasingly unhinged Andrew's approach to his art.

If there was any question about whether his role in "Whiplash" was good for Austin Stowell's career, you only have to look at his next prestige movie in the following year. In 2015, Stowell appeared in "Bridge of Spies," which features a laundry list of the absolute best talent Hollywood has to offer. Steven Spielberg directed the movie, Tom Hanks played the main role, and the Coen Brothers co-wrote the script. What's more, the whole thing is based on the real-life incident where pilot Francis Gary Powers' highly classified U-2 spy plane was shot down in the Soviet Union, sparking a famous 1960 diplomatic crisis. Guess who was cast to play Powers?

To prepare for the role, Stowell reached out to the real-life Powers' son, who gave him access to interview tapes that featured the pilot's voice. "To hear his voice, which, as an actor, is a present wrapped with a bow," Stowell said of his experience studying the tapes in an interview with GeekTyrant. "But also to get to know him in the way he speaks about the situation and about his imprisonment and about the crash and about how he was treated when he came home — it gives you a firsthand account of how he felt about the entire ordeal. It was invaluable. It was absolutely incredible to get those tapes."

In 2017, Austin Stowell portrayed another real-life figure in the star-studded "Battle of the Sexes." The sports movie is based on a real-life tennis match between groundbreaking women's tennis pioneer Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and former top player and current gambling addict Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). Stowell portrays Billie Jean's husband, Larry, whose blond coiffed hair, lantern jaw, and extremely 1970s suits could easily code him as a secret villain of the piece — but the truth is far more heartwarming. As Stowell noted in an interview with Elle Canada, Larry was an incredibly devoted and supportive husband until the pair divorced in 1987, and he remained close to Billie Jean even after that.

"There's that old adage of, 'Behind every good man, there's a woman.' In this case it's 'Behind every good woman, there's a man,'" Stowell said of Larry. "He was her rock. I really feel like Billie Jean knew that she had that steady presence in her life. What an amazing, forward-thinking, modern man in 1973. He was just doing it, not because he thought it was the right thing to do or that he was going to be different and stand away and fight against the current, it's just who Larry is. I've gotten a chance to speak with him a little bit since the movie and he's a lovely man."

Austin Stowell has been a common sight in movies and TV shows since 2009 when he started his nigh-obligatory early career string of small, profile-building roles by appearing in an episode of the Comedy Central sitcom "Secret Girlfriend." Funnily enough, one of these early guest star roles was Marine Corporal Andrew Peterson in "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 2, Episode 4 — which means "NCIS: Origins" puts Stowell in the prestigious club of actors who have played multiple "NCIS" characters. 

While Stowell has continued to guest star on the occasional show — including a cameo as a hotel guest in "The White Lotus" Season 1 — his success in major projects continues to earn him bigger and bigger roles. On the series front, he's appeared as Sean O'Bannon in TNT's 2015 period police drama "Public Morals" and as Nately in the 2019 miniseries version of "Catch-22," among others. His movie projects include the Chris Hemsworth action drama "12 Strong," the horror mystery "Fantasy Island," and the romantic comedy "The Hating Game."