It has been over two decades since NCIS first aired on television and somehow, it has managed to stay a fan-favorite despite the series being in its twenty-first season. NCIS began with Mark Harmon playing the role of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and the actor remained a part of the show up until the nineteenth season before bidding the role and the show adieu.
Throughout his time on NCIS, Mark Harmon received a lot of recognition for his work. He was nominated for a few awards and even took home the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Crime Drama TV Actor in 2017. However, Mark Harmon almost missed out on all of this because the actor almost turned down the role!
Mark Harmon Almost Said No to NCIS
Can you imagine anyone else playing Special Agent Gibbs other than Mark Harmon? Neither can we! It is almost as if the role was made for him. Therefore, when the actor revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he almost said no to the show. Why? Well, Harmon was already looking into other projects and had wanted to stay more at home. But when he read the script for NCIS, his decision changed.
“I didn’t expect to like the script as much as I did when I first read. I was reading other things and I was also trying to stay home — young family and I wanted to try and be home more.”
The one thing that intrigued Harmon was the name of his character – Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He read the name and it was like a switch flipped in his mind. However, as the name almost convinced the actor to say yes to NCIS, the show’s creator, Donald P. Bellisario, changed it.
“I read ‘Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ and thought, ‘Huh, I like that name. And then for a brief second when I decided that I liked the idea of the project, the name changed. Bob Johnson or something like that.”
Luckily, Harmon was able to convince the creator to switch the name back.
“I went, ‘No, no, it’s gotta be Leroy Jethro Gibbs.’ The creator said, ‘No, you can’t play a guy named Leroy Jethro Gibbs,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ And then it went back and I was happy about it.”
Honestly, we cannot see the lead of NCIS being someone named Bob Johnson. Leroy Jethro Gibbs is more like it! Thankfully, Harmon was able to turn the decision around.
Mark Harmon Talks about Leaving NCIS
CBS’ longest-running police procedural saw many actors come and go but Harmon’s Gibbs was constant, that is, until the fourth episode of the nineteenth season. Of course, Harmon’s sudden exit from the show he gave so many years to raised a lot of questions. Everyone had their own theories about why the actor made his exit.
Two years after his departure, Harmon took it upon himself to reveal the real reason behind saying goodbye to NCIS. During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the Freaky Friday actor stated,
“I think for the longest time, I was just tired. Part of taking the job [involved] being home, with a young family, not traveling so much doing movies. The first day, we worked 22 hours. So I thought, ‘That’s not exactly what I thought this was going to be.’ But we had a lot of days like that in the first four years.”
Another reason behind Harmon leaving the show could be because he no longer thought it to be fresh or challenging. In a special featurette on the show’s season 19 DVD release (via MovieWeb), the actor stated, “What has always drawn me here is the character I play and to keep it fresh and to keep it challenging.” This could mean that Harmon no longer felt the same way he did about his character after nineteen seasons.
You can stream NCIS on Netflix and Paramount+.
