It wasn’t always a given that Mark Harmon of “NCIS” would play Leroy Jethro Gibbs. These celebrities were in the running for the part.
Season 21 news is eagerly anticipated by NCIS viewers, who are eager to learn when their favorite show will return. Sadly, we do not expect Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, to make an appearance. Prior to retiring, Harmon played Gibbs for 19 seasons. Additionally, A-list actors were considered by NCIS creators to play Gibbs before Harmon was hired.
‘NCIS’ creators considered A-listers to play Leroy Jethro Gibbs instead of Mark Harmon
The original cast of NCIS didn’t always envision Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It was disclosed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that more A-list celebrities were given thought to play the part. Executive producer of JAG and NCIS Charles Floyd Johnson talked about the casting difficulties the production first encountered. Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter, “I know Harrison Ford was a name that everybody thought about for Gibbs because he was so perfect.” “But it was just a name thrown out, I don’t think it ever went further than that.”
Peter Golden, the former head of CBS casting, noted that the “Harrison Fords of the world” didn’t often do TV at the time. But no name was off the table during those initial casting conversations. “That didn’t mean you didn’t put them on the list,” Golden stated. NCIS casting director Susan Bluestein stated she didn’t remember Ford’s name. Still, she did remember investigating other big-name celebs like Alec Baldwin, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Kevin Bacon, Tom Berenger, Val Kilmer, Charlie Sheen, Aidan Quinn, Andrew McCarthy, and Patrick Swayze. Scott Glenn was also heavily considered for the role of Ducky, but he passed on it.
“Casting was very challenging,” Bluestein added. “I cast Mark Harmon to play John Dillinger in a movie of the week in 1991, and he was terrific. Mark had been on my NCIS list from day one. I always felt like Mark really had the gravitas for this character.”
How did Mark Harmon get the job?
No one else could play Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS than Mark Harmon. He had competition, though, for the part.
Ultimately, Harmon most likely secured the position because of his prior work on The West Wing and with Jag. Producer Donald P. Bellisario discovered Harmon while watching The West Wing, and in 2003, he cast Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on Jag. Later that year, Harmon joined NCIS. Five years later, Harmon was involved in the creation of NCIS: New Orleans and served as an executive producer and producer of NCIS.
“Susan [Bluestein] said, ‘What about Mark Harmon?’” Peter Golden, former head of CBS casting, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Mark was a big deal, and everybody thought, ‘We’ll make an offer to Mark Harmon, and when we don’t get him, let’s go through the list of who else we could get.’ Mark had a meeting with Don Bellisario, and they hit it off, and Mark agreed to do it. All of a sudden, the show took on much more importance in my mind.”
Bluestein added that Bellisario wasn’t completely confident in Harmon to play Gibbs at first. But Bluestein intended to push for Harmon.
Will Leroy Jethro Gibbs appear in future episodes of ‘NCIS’?
Mark Harmon likely won’t appear in NCIS Season 21, which has a delayed premiere due to the writers’ strike. Does that mean we’ll never see Leroy Jethro Gibbs again?
“There’s always head space for him to come back,” executive producer Steven D. Binder told TV Insider in May 2022. “It just has to be the right story, I think, to get him excited about it and to get us excited about it. It’s a card to play, and I don’t think we want to play it cheaply. I think when we do play it, it really needs to be the right thing.”